Packing
pinched
penguins
It is kind of hard to fathom why anyone
would have a need to pack penguins —
in truth, it is kind of hard to justify the
existence of penguins. They don’t actually
do a lot and penguin-shaped stress balls do even
less. They are, however, extremely cute.
For similarly unfathomable reasons What’s New in Food Technology & Manufacturing elected to choose to have penguin-shaped
stress balls as its ‘giveaway’ at Foodtech Packtech 2016. (We actually
think some of the blame for this choice should be borne by the Australian
Institute of Packaging’s Nerida Kelton.)
Held every two years in Auckland, Foodtech Packtech attracts absolutely
every food and beverage processor in New Zealand. It is a very busy and successful event — the traffic getting there is proof of this. But, once again, we are
forced to report that New Zealand’s seamier underbelly was evident at the event.
Penguin thieves were at work — snaffling innocent penguins from the What’s
New in Food Technology & Manufacturing exhibition stand and vacuum packaging them. Our admittedly totally useless penguins had proven to be extremely
popular — only a carefully secreted handful were still around by day three
and absolutely none by the end of the day.
The chief penguin pincher was D&L Marketing’s Tim Morton. Sadly, Tim not
only shows no remorse — he is proud to demonstrate how effective his company’s vacuum packaging systems are by restoring emaciated, vacuum-packed
penguins to full size and uselessness by simply opening the packs. What the
penguins think of this gross invasion of their existence is hard to guess.
However, in Tim’s defence, we have now established with certainty that if
you ever need to pack penguins (well, stress-ball penguins), vacuum packing
will allow you to fit more penguins into a given volume.
Next year will be a big exhibition year in Australia with both AUSPACK and
foodpro and the pressure is on to find a penguin replacement that will defy
the wily activity of penguin pinchers.
Janette Woodhouse
Editor
jwoodhouse@wfmedia.com.au
www.foodprocessing.com.au

The national body representing the
Australian vegetable industry is supporting calls
for reform to the Horticulture Code of Conduct.
AUSVEG has called on the Australian Government to implement all reforms from the independent review
of the code by Mark Napper and Alan Wein, which included 13 recommendations for targeted reforms.
The code has recently been at the heart of high-profile media coverage of several Bundaberg sweet potato growers claiming they
were owed a combined total of nearly two million dollars by agents at Melbourne produce markets.
“It is vital that there is a strong, effective code of conduct regulating trading relationships in the horticulture sector, and the
recommended reforms would help to increase the code’s ability to provide protections for growers against unfair behaviour from
their trading partners,” said AUSVEG spokesperson Jordan Brooke-Barnett.
“We completely agree that the existing dispute resolution process should be replaced with an improved system. On top of this, we
absolutely agree with the reviewers’ recommendation that the code should be amended to provide for civil penalties and infringement
notices for breaches of the code.”

The first comprehensive facility for the analysis of complex carbohydrates (‘glycans’) in the Southern
Hemisphere has opened at the University of Adelaide’s Waite campus.
The lab, a collaboration between the University of Adelaide and Agilent
Technologies Australia, will focus on the structure and function of
glycans (glycoscience). Typical projects will include the development
of baby’s milk formula so it more closely matches breast milk, potatoes
with better starch profiles and immune system additives.
Adelaide Glycomics will serve as a hub for local, national and
international collaborations and will also offer training workshops
and on-site demonstrations for researchers and technical staff.
Highly qualified analysts and state-of-the-art instrumentation, made
available through the collaboration with Agilent Technologies, will support
fundamental and applied research in glycoscience and the development of new
applications for a range of industries.

Australia and China have announced
a grains biosecurity research centre
partnership.
The Australia-China Joint Centre
for Postharvest Grain Biosecurity and
Quality Research is a partnership
between Australia’s Plant Biosecurity
Cooperative Research Centre (CRC),
Murdoch University and China’s
Academy of State Administration
of Grain.
The joint centre will bring together
researchers from both China and
Australia to work on developing nonchemical controls to manage stored
grain pests, with the aim of reducing
biosecurity and trade risks while
providing clean grain.
The joint centre will focus on
innovative technologies such as the
use of nitrogen for stored grain pest
management and ‘lure and kill’ pest
control using pheromones and lightbased trapping systems. The partnership
will work with grain suppliers and
companies to commercialise the research
and deliver it to industry.

Image courtesy of ElasticComputeFarm (via Pixabay) under CC0 Public Domain

Australia and China
launch joint grain
research centre

CSIRO’s work on predicting Australia’s
agricultural future is gaining
international attention, with Dr Steve
Hatfield-Dodds, leader of CSIRO’s
integration science and modelling
work, presenting a paper at the 50th
birthday celebration conference for
the International Maize and Wheat
Improvement Center (known as CIMMYT
by its Spanish acronym).
The conference is themed: ‘Turning research
into impact: past, present and future’ and HatfieldDodds’s paper is titled 2015 Australian National
Outlook.
CIMMYT is the organisation that catalysed the ‘Green Revolution’ and
is known for its work in improving crop yields and food security. This year
marks CIMMYT’s 50th anniversary, with celebrations taking place in Mexico.
CSIRO’s outlook linked nine national and global models to provide an
integrated analysis of economic activity, agriculture and food, energy, water,
land use, biodiversity, material flows and climate change.
“The aim of the outlook was to find and explore the ways Australia could
navigate through interconnected future challenges, to better meet the needs of
a growing national and global population,” Dr Hatfield-Dodds said.
“These challenges are not unique to Australia, and CIMMYT can see how
the flexible integrated approach demonstrated by CSIRO can help identify and
test options for reducing poverty and improving food security across diverse
developing world contexts,” he said.
While CIMMYT is best known for supplying the world with hardier and
higher-yielding wheat and maize varieties, the best science estimates this
is only likely to contribute about half of the productivity gains needed to
meet future food demands, with the remainder needing to come from more
productive and efficient farming systems, such as precision maize and wheat
farming, with efficient use of soil, water and fertiliser.

Building more supermarkets won’t solve the
obesity crisis
An analysis has challenged the notion that obesity rates can be reduced by improving
access to supermarkets offering healthy food, finding that the bulk of soft drinks and
junk foods are purchased in supermarkets.
The findings challenge the ‘food desert’ hypothesis, which posits that a lack of
access to supermarkets and grocery stores in some communities worsens the obesity
crisis by restricting access to healthy foods.
The study, published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, looked at
data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey of 4204 adults who
reported their daily food intake in two, non-consecutive 24-hour periods in 2011 and
2012.
The analysis found that nearly half (46.3%) of adults consumed sugar-sweetened
beverages and 88.8% ate discretionary foods such as cookies, pastries, ice-cream, cakes, popcorn and candy on any given day.
Sugar-sweetened beverages add an average 891 kJ/day to the diet, the researchers found, while discretionary foods added an
average of 1836 kJ/day, with the largest portion of both products coming from supermarket shelves.

thought
Metabiota targets food risk
Metabiota has launched a Food Risk Insights
platform to provide food producers,
suppliers and retailers the ability
to identify, analyse and
proactively mitigate risks
across the supply chain.
The company has
also created a food
risk team made up
of industry veterans,
public health and
veterinary experts, and
data scientists.
At the International
Association for Food
P r o t e c t i o n ’s A n n u a l
Meeting, Metabiota also
unveiled a partnership with
Ancera, which combines Metabiota’s
analytics and Ancera’s near real-time diagnostics to optimise
safety and performance for the global food supply chain.
“The food industry is ready to innovate — and this
partnership signals our joint commitment to helping these
companies optimise and decrease pathogen risk for the global
community,” said Arjun Ganesan, co-founder and CEO of
Ancera.

JBT pays $160 million for Tipper Tie
JBT has signed a definitive agreement to purchase Tipper
Tie for US$160 million (before customary post-closing
adjustments) with the sale expected to be completed
this year.
Tipper Tie will expand JBT’s protein platform to include
complementary packaging solutions. Another bonus for
JBT will be Tipper Tie’s large installed equipment base that
generates high recurring revenues from consumables and
aftermarket parts sales.
Tom Giacomini, JBT’s chairman, president and CEO,
said, “Tipper Tie’s globally recognised brand, advanced
technology and relationships with major food processors
in the US and Europe will prove critical as we grow the
company’s presence in Asia and Latin America.”
Tipper Tie has a long association with the food industry,
especially meat and poultry. The company supplies
processing and clip packaging machines including fine
cutters for emulsified products and a complete line of
clippers from tabletop models to fully automated, highspeed systems that seal, clip, net, bag and hang.

Bayer and Monsanto’s $88bn deal could change the
future of agriculture
One of the world’s biggest agriculture conglomerates is set to be created, with the announcement
that German chemical company Bayer will purchase US seed company Monsanto in an
$88 billion deal that could change the future of global food supply.
The acquisition signals a greater focus by Bayer on its agriculture business, which currently
produces farming chemicals, crop supplies, herbicides and pesticides. As the world’s largest
supplier of genetically modified seeds, Monsanto is a key — and sometimes controversial —
player in the push for farmers to produce higher yields from fewer resources.
Announcing the agreement, negotiations for which began in May 2016, Hugh Grant, chairman
and chief executive officer of Monsanto, said the combined might of the two companies would
deliver solutions for a new era in agriculture.
“This combination with Bayer will deliver … an innovation engine that pairs Bayer’s crop
protection portfolio with our world-class seeds and traits and digital agriculture tools to help
growers overcome the obstacles of tomorrow,” said Grant.
Liam Condon, member of the board of management of Bayer AG and head of the Crop
Science Division, said a new approach was required to tackle the global challenge of feeding
an additional 3 billion people in the world by 2050 in an environmentally sustainable way. He
said both companies were committed to systematically integrating expertise across seeds, traits
and crop protection, including biologicals, alongside investment in innovation and sustainable
agriculture practices.

8

November/December 2016

www.foodprocessing.com.au

thought
Fighting frankfurter fraud
Synonymous with American baseball games and kids’ birthday parties, for
many people the hot dog is a guilty pleasure. But what is actually in that frankfurter?
(And do I really want to know?)
Frankfurter fraud is real, and for those who can’t consume certain types of meats for health, cultural or religious reasons, it’s
important to know what they’re eating. Now, scientists have come to the rescue.
Currently, testing the authenticity of a meat product involves sampling its DNA, amplifying the genetic material with the
polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and looking for certain markers. But existing methods often only search for one, long DNA
sequence, which could break down during food processing and lead to false results.
Scientists from Malaysia have developed a technique to look for pairs of short DNA sequences from beef, buffalo and pork
in hot dogs. They used their approach on 20 beef frankfurters that they bought in local markets, and testing showed their target
sequences were stable under food processing conditions.
Reinforcing the need for their work, the researchers found that all of the hot dogs labelled as ‘beef’ also contained buffalo meat.
The research has been reported in ACS’s Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

Japan’s vertical farms
take production indoors
under LED lights
Two Japanese vertical farms have successfully
trialled crops of lettuces and herbs grown
under Philips horticultural LED lighting.
A vertical farm is a fully controlled
facility where vegetables and herbs are
grown in stacked layers without the use of
daylight. Growing conditions are carefully
controlled using tailored growth recipes which
specify light, temperature, water, CO2 and the best
growing medium. Vertical farms enable producers
to meet the growing demand for safe, fresh food in
countries like Japan where space is at a premium.
After a trial starting in March 2015 at its Fuji Farm with a total floor
area of 1851 m2 — one of the largest completely closed-environment,
vertical farms in the world using horticultural LED lighting — Innovatus
now produces 12,000 heads of lettuce/day.
“The trial using Philips GreenPower LED production module has
allowed us to grow five varieties of lettuces, mainly frilled lettuce, green
leaf and romaine that are of a consistent quality and locally produced,
using only a fraction of the water and compared to lettuces grown in
open fields,” said Hitoshi Wada, director at Innovatus.
The Innovatus lettuces arrive in Tokyo supermarkets just two hours
after shipment from the farm and do not require washing prior to
consumption.
Meanwhile, processed foods manufacturer Delicious Cook is using the
vertical farm technology to grow its own produce. It has created a city
farm in the urbanised Kanto region of Japan, using Philips’ GreenPower
LED production module in three layers in a total cultivation area of
roughly 80 m2 to grow relatively uncommon herbs, including edible
chrysanthemums and coriander for the company’s processed foods.

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November/December 2016

www.foodprocessing.com.au

Healthy growth forecast for
fish and seafood market
The global fish and seafood market has grown
steadily, registering a compound annual growth rate
(CAGR) of 3.8% between 2011 and 2015, according
to data from research company MarketLine, whose
analysis shows that market values have increased
in all regions.
Global growth is primarily driven by Asia–Pacific
and South America as the swelling middle classes
begin to buy more expensive products through the
organised retail channel. However, the US is still
the single largest market.
“The US is the largest market by value for fish and
seafood, accounting for 13.9% of global revenues.
Value increases, while lower than in many other
countries, have been driven by increased health
awareness, as US public health bodies recommend
eating two pieces of fish a week. Such advice
is not unique to the US, and improved health
consciousness is set to help the market globally
in the mid to long term,” said MarketLine analyst
Nicholas Wyatt.
The global market is forecast to grow at a CAGR
of 3.9% between 2015 and 2020.

The two labelling stations are capable of up to 21,000
applications/h, while the entire quality control phase is handled
by LVS (labelling vision system) units that position the container
(using six video cameras) and inspect both label and nozzle (four
image acquisition devices).
The modular configuration of the labeller allows, via a single
passage through the machine, application of a main label by the
roll-fed module and the barcode by self-adhesive technology.
The outcome is an efficient production process that guarantees

How important is checkweighing? Do you
really need it?

output quality due to integration with label control and container

“What you don’t know can’t hurt you” works for many things —
manufacturing is not one. This quick Q&A will help you decide if
checkweighing is a ‘nice to have’ for your business, or a ‘must have’.
Q. What is a checkweigher?

www.hbm.com.au

A. Checkweighers check the weight of your products to ensure
they are within specified limits. Any products outside the tolerance (so too heavy or too light) are rejected. They can also
‘count’ items, eg, a carton of 10 bottles should weigh X; if the
checkweigher measurement is less, then a bottle can be added
before the carton is sealed.
Q. How does this help me?
A. Taking out-of-spec products off the line, and preventing them
from going out your door, reduces the risk for your business. Supplying the agreed product, fit for shelf, includes the correct weight.
Your checkweigher can measure gross weight (total of contents
and packaging) and net weight (just contents — based on the
product). A checkweigher will ensure the ‘nominal weight’ (weight
stated on the pack) is as close as possible to the actual weight.
Q. What if it’s overweight? Isn’t that better?
A. No — this is called ‘giveaway’; it is the portion of the product
above the nominal weight. You can’t charge for it, so it’s just
straight lost profits, and it’s deadly to bottom lines! Say if your
nut-bagging machine puts 220 g into 200 g bags. If you sell 150
a week, that’s 3 kg you’re giving away — just in 7 days. Over
48 weeks, that’s 144 kg for which you’ll never earn any income.
A checkweigher helps reduce giveaway.
Q. But isn’t it nice for customers if product is a little
overweight?
A. Most customers appreciate ‘buy one get one free’ promotions.
But if you’re giving away more product and they don’t even know,
that won’t win loyalty. The more accurate your checkweigher, the
more money you can save. Even with small packets of nuts, eliminating the tiniest amount of overfill can add up to massive savings.
Q. Can’t my staff do this?
A. The demands on manufacturing processes are intense: production lines are increasingly fast, yet portioning must still be
accurate. Even for slower lines, the aspect of human error is too
much to risk if your staff have to individually weigh each pack.
For more information, visit the National Measurement Institute,
www.measurement.gov.au.
Brought to you by
Matthews Australasia

12

November/December 2016

orientation.
HBM Packaging Technologies

Flow wrapper
ILAPAK’s Delta 3000 is an entry-level flow wrapper suitable for use
by processors of poultry and meat.
The system offers complete IP65 protection, enabling full washdown
capability, even of the sealing elements. This has been achieved
through full stainless steel execution, isolating the electrical cabinet
from the main machine frame and smooth, sloping surfaces without
recesses. A digital electronic platform gives precise control over
the sealing cycle and parameters.
The modular construction allows users to start with a basic
machine and add on modules at a later date.
Its flexibility makes it suitable for poultry packers as companies
can use one machine to pack whole birds or parts (thighs, drumsticks, breasts, etc), with or without a supporting tray and with or
without gas flushing.
The flow wrapper can produce a variety of pack formats, including ovenable MAP flushed polyethylene quattro packs, simple
laminate film wrap, gas flushed barrier films and shrink bags, at
speeds ranging from 60–100 ppm depending on the application.
Similarly, in the meat packing market, a range of products from
pork or lamb chops to beef mince and barbecue skewers can be
packed with or without a tray, with or without MAP, in a variety of films.
Linco Food Systems
www.linco.com.au

www.foodprocessing.com.au

Jus de Fruits d’Alsace opts for aseptic line from
Krones

PACKAGING, LABELLING & CODING

The French province of Alsace is renowned
as a gourmet’s paradise. Beverage company
Jus de Fruits d’Alsace continues this
tradition, producing quality fruit juices,
smoothies and fruit squashes.
When repackaging its sensitive products
in PET bottles instead of in soft packages,
the company invested in a Contiform
AseptBloc from Krones.
Rated at 30,000 bottles/h, the new aseptic
filling line at Jus de Fruits d’Alsace includes
an aseptic blow-moulder, which is part of
a blow-moulder/filler block. After preform
decontamination using gaseous H2O2, the
block produces the containers in the aseptic
blow-moulder and fills them in aseptic
mode. This means that both the containers and the product
are processed in aseptic mode throughout.
Besides the high microbiological safety levels it provides,
the Contiform AseptBloc also improves cost-efficiency. It
dispenses with a sterile-water UHT and a hygiene centre,

and does not consume any water in production mode, thus
enabling Jus de Fruits d’Alsace to save on water, chemicals
and energy.
Krones (Thailand) Co Ltd
www.krones.co.th

Craft brewery eliminates bottling line bottleneck
Founded in 1996 with a few hundred dollars and some
repurposed equipment, Three Floyds Brewery, in Indiana,
USA, had a modest beginning, growing to an output of 4600
hectolitres (HL) at the end of its first decade.
The subsequent boom in the popularity of craft beer saw
demand explode, with production rising to 58,000 HL by 2015.
Responding to the increased demand, in 2012 Three Floyds
commissioned a new and larger 35 HL brewhouse. But the
30-year-old pre-owned bottling line, rated at 4200 bottles per
hour, became the production operation’s bottleneck.
A new solution was urgently needed and was found in
the shape of a complete line from Krones, which has been
dimensioned for a speed of 15,000 bottles per hour. Three
Floyds built a new hall adjacent to the existing brewery to
accommodate it.
The line started operation in September 2015 and consists
of a Pressant Universal 1N bulk-glass sweep-off depalletiser
with low-level discharge onto a bulk conveyor. After being
spaced, the bottles are passed directly to the rinser-filler bloc,
comprising a Moduljet rinser and a Modulfill filler. “We don’t
need an empty-bottle inspector,” said Packaging Manager
Travis Fasano, “because we’re using exclusively bulk glass
and we put our trust in the rinser’s quality.”

The Modulfill HRS filler does not have a front table; the
bottles are conveyed in neck-handling mode by free-standing
starwheel columns so as to ensure optimum hygiene.
“The filler gives us excellent values for oxygen pick-up of
50 ppb, coupled with very consistent fill levels,” explained
Fasano.
The field-proven, short-tube, level-controlled filler with
vent tubes operates with double pre-evacuation and an
interpolated CO2-flushing feature. The filling valves are
electro-pneumatically controlled. The bottles are inspected
for correct fill level in a Checkmat FM-X and immediately
after that dressed in shoulder labels on a Prontomatic with a
cold-glue station.
Correct label placement is verified in another Checkmat E.
Complete end-of-the-line packaging is handled in a Varioline
with two modules, which produces sixpacks with 355 mL
bottles as a basket and packs them in 24-bottle cartons. Or it
directly produces 12-bottle cartons holding 650 mL bottles.
After that, palletising is still done by hand.
Future plans are to install a new bigger brewhouse, and then
a new kegging line, and finally to expand the glass bottling line
to include a Krones can filler and a fully automatic palletiser.
JL Lennard Pty Ltd
www.jllennard.com.au

14

November/December 2016

www.foodprocessing.com.au

PACKAGING
EXACTLY
THE WAY YOU
WANT IT

SOUNDS UNREALISTIC?
NOT WITH LAFER

SELE 11828 NOV DEC 16

For a demonstration of this unique fully
customised flow pack system phone 1800 10 11 22
or visit selectequip.com.au

Compact X-ray system
Loma Systems’ compact X5c is an X-ray system suitable for food manufacturers looking to
upgrade their product inspection technology.
It’s also suited to smaller production lines and
is up to 50% shorter in length than Loma’s

reduced its label
inventories
and time to market
With the need for more than 5 million labels each year, Australiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s largest Kosher meat supplier turned to
insignia for an overprint solution that has reduced their label inventories and improved their time to market
with new products.

With traditional labels and packaging, Continental Kosher
would be faced with having to hold label stock for each individual product. Finding space to store the all the different
label stocks would be difficult, not to mention the risk of
getting stuck with expensive, unusable labels if packaging or
labelling regulations were to change.

The solution
Continental Kosher uses a pre-printed template label and overprints the variable information for each product type, in-house,
as each batch is produced. The labelling solution includes:

www.foodprocessing.com.au

The outcome

Flexibility and agility
Continental Kosher recognises the role this flexibility and agility has had in helping it remain responsive to its customers
and the market in general. Being able to quickly make changes
and respond to new product requests has helped facilitate its
business growth.
When the meat industry felt the impact of the drought and
the high dollar, Continental Kosher expanded into new markets with new products, introducing its Lewis and Son range.

• Datamax-O’Neil thermal printers
• BarTender labelling software
• Template (overprint) labels with branding and thermal
ribbon
The overprint labels are printed for both Continental Kosher
Butchers’ range of meats and smallgoods, as well as its new
brand, Lewis & Son, which produces smallgoods, fermented
vegetables, deli lines and dry goods. An industrial thermal
printer is then used to overprint the variable information
(product name, ingredients, and nutritional panel) into the
remaining space provided.

Recently Lewis & Son became the first FODMAP Friendly
certified smallgoods crafter and has also obtained endorsement
from Coeliac Australia with its Gluten Free products. These
lines have seen excellent growth in line with customers’ needs.
With its in-house QA department and the ability to put
together new product samples easily with its labelling solution,
Continental Kosher has the ability to launch a new product
line within days, not weeks or months.
The in-house, overprint label solution allows Continental
Kosher Butcher to focus on what it does best — its extensive
range of kosher meats, smallgoods and health foods — rather
than wasting time on packaging and labelling inventory management.
“The strength of the current set-up is flexibility and adaptability of printing in-house. No delay time means no hindrance
on creativity or speed to market; enabling a small business to
do what small businesses do best,” explained Daniel Lewis,
General Manager, Continental Kosher Butchers.
“Using an attractive base label printed by insignia, with
templates set up on Bartender software by insignia technicians
means we’ve simplified our label inventory with no sacrifice
to the visual appeal of the label.”
insignia Pty Ltd
www.insignia.com.au

www.foodprocessing.com.au

November/December 2016

19

PACKAGING, LABELLING & CODING

The labelling solution allows for brand consistency, improved
efficiency, and cost-savings. Cash is not tied up in holding
stock of hundreds of different labels, as Continental Kosher
keeps only the template labels which are used across its
product ranges.
In-house printing of variable information provides flexibility.
Product information can simply be changed as needed and it
is easy to delete a product line. This also means there is no
label waste; should a product or labelling regulations change,
it is just a matter of updating the software label template.

Photoelectric proximity sensors
SICK’s PowerProx MultiTask photoelectric sensors combine the advantages of time-of-flight
technology in a small housing with increased detection speed. Objects being conveyed at
high speed, small and flat objects, jet-black and shiny objects can be reliably detected
over an extensive sensing range.
The photoelectric sensor provides stable detection results over a large detection angle
and is immune to ambient light. Sensing ranges are available from 5 cm to 3.8 m. The
sensor provides eye safety at the level of laser class 1 and fast signal processing, while

PACKAGING, LABELLING & CODING

the VISTAL housing ensures the device is sufficiently rugged.
Adjusted by means of a potentiometer or teach-in button, there are variants available with
either one or two separately adjustable switching thresholds, depending on the application. IO-Link
can be used to define up to eight switching points and to make use of the smart sensor functions.
The four variants — distance, speed, precision and small — are designed for different detection tasks.
The distance variant is suitable for occupied bay and clearance detection, pallet handling, and collision
protection in storage and conveyor technology.
Quick response times, high switching frequencies and reliable object detection at extended sensing ranges make the
speed variant suitable for the packaging industry or in any application that relies on detection at top speed, such as highspeed counting.
The precision model detects the smallest of objects, cut-outs and recesses from a considerable distance. It copes well
with changes in materials and surfaces, so is suitable for quality control and for handling and assembly applications.
The small variant is flexible and can be used in a wide range of different fields, offering high switching frequencies of
up to 1000 Hz.
SICK Pty Ltd
www.sick.com.au

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November/December 2016

www.foodprocessing.com.au

Vacuum filler
series
Handtmann has introduced its
VF 800 vacuum filler series. Suitable
producers, the range features a
hygienic design coupled with re-

Krones’ double-end bottle washers from the

fined and practical advantages for

Lavatec, LavaClassic and LavaClassic Plus

handling and ergonomics.
In addition to flexibility and high

families will in future be constructed in a modular design to

performance, a long service life

enable treatment zones to be matched to each client’s specific needs.

and robust design ensure long-term

In addition to the familiar loop routing in the caustic baths, either in single-

stable portioning accuracy thanks to

or double-loop design, the concept offers an option for meeting requirements

reduced wear. Numerous additional

via a variety of pre- and post-treatment steps.

functions and modules support the

Four modules are available for the pre-treatment zones, ranging from a

operation of the vacuum filler. The

simple pre-jetting tank through to a highly automated module, comprising

The Certified Packaging Professional (CPP) designation is the leading mark of excellence internationally for
packaging professionals and two New Zealanders have just received this must-have recognition of industry
proficiency and achievement.

T

his designation, now available in Australasia under
the partnership between the Institute of Packaging
Professionals (IoPP) in the US and the Australian
Institute of Packaging (AIP), has been awarded to
Chris Hartwell MAIP, CPP, Packaging Innovation & Development Manager and Coster Ngirazi MSc, MAIP, CPP, Packaging
Technologist, both from Fonterra Co-operative.
The AIP asked Chris and Coster a few questions about their
careers, packaging education and why the CPP designation is
so important for the industry...

Q: How long have you been in the industry? What are
your areas of expertise?
Chris: Some may say too long. I spent approximately 10 years
in the food industry in a range of technical and supervisory
roles before moving into the packaging industry. I started in
the corrugated case industry with Printpac UEB (which later
became CHH) in New Zealand as Quality Assurance Manager,
on to Process Improvement and then Regional Technical
Manager before moving to the dark side and into a regional
sales role for dairy packaging with CHH.
After 10 years in the paperboard packaging industry I moved
to Unilever as their NZ Packaging Manager, before a family move
22

November/December 2016

saw me heading up Fonterra’s Packaging Technical Centre at
Whareroa in New Zealand.
Following a couple of years there I moved south with
Fonterra and have been based at their R&D Centre for the last
12 years as Packaging Innovation and Development Manager.
I have extensive packaging expertise: Packaging Regulatory
Compliance, materials technology and supply chain optimisation coupled with the desire to learn something new
every day. After a few years you build up a lot of corporate
knowledge (you get to see the good and the bad and you
learn how to fix things that may have happened in the past)
and you build a good network of people that can bring new
ideas and make stuff happen.
Coster: I have been in the packaging industry for nearly
20 years, stretching back to 1995 when I started my packaging
career with Unilever Zimbabwe. I have worked in Zimbabwe,
United Kingdom and New Zealand.
My skills and areas of expertise include new product
development, plastics materials and processing, packaging
optimisation, packaging design, project management, packaging
waste management and packaging validation. My experience
includes FMCG — cosmetics, toiletries and detergents, personal
products, food and dairy, and retail/general merchandise. >

I have worked in different packaging roles but mainly as
Packaging Development Technologist.
Within Fonterra NZ, my roles included packaging and
process development and validation for dairy commodities
for four years; new product development for nutritional dairy
products in metal cans and sachets; and my current role
involves providing quality packaging technology outputs in
new product development (NPD) for Fonterra Global Brands.

Q: What made you apply for the CPP designation?
Chris: I applied for the CPP designation because I see a lot
of expertise within the industry going unrecognised. Being
keen for my team to pursue the designation I thought I might
as well lead from the front — if I don’t do it, how can I
encourage my team to.
Coster: After working in different parts of the world I wanted
to have a wider network with packaging professionals. With
WPO (World Packaging Organisation) and AIP formally
recognising CPP designation, it was worth giving it a go in
attaining the certification. I wanted to get a deeper industry
reach and have stronger peer connections worldwide working
in multiple packaging fields.

Q: How important
is attaining the CPP
designation to you as an
individual?
Chris: The designation of CPP
for the wider group of packaging
practitioners in the industry I
believe is more important than
for the individual.
Coster: It is very important and
very significant to my career.
Adding the CPP designation
to my name seals my adventurous packaging career. I have
always wanted something very significant for myself in
packaging so I did an MSc Packaging Technology at Brunel
University in London, UK, in 2005 and was enticed to do
a PhD in Packaging in Michigan thereafter. Attaining CPP
designation will provide me some self-satisfaction and a
mark of excellence to my career — a sense of belonging to
the packaging world.
24

November/December 2016

Attaining CPP designation will provide me some
self-satisfaction and a mark of excellence to my
career — a sense of belonging to the packaging world.

Q: How important is the CPP designation for the
greater recognition of packaging professionals?
Chris: Having the Certified Packaging Professional designation
shows that the industry has people who are highly competent
in what they do and that the designation is ‘live’. It is not a
designation that you get and then do not need to work at to
keep it live — that is the beauty of it.
Coster: Receiving the Certified Packaging Professional designation is important as it covers a very broad packaging aspect
and has global recognition; it provides a sense of belonging
to the packaging world — a must-have if you are a packaging
enthusiast like me.

About the CPP program
Attaining the CPP designation is an excellent investment
in professional development and the credential defines the
packaging professional and allows organisations to seek out
and hire the right professional based on verified knowledge,
skills and industry contributions. CPP is a designation some
of the leading packaging companies in the world want their
influential team members to have because it demonstrates
broad competency in all major areas of packaging. CPPs today
typically enjoy more senior, decision-making positions in their
companies, and research also suggests that holders of CPP
often out-earn their non-certified peers. The CPP credential
demonstrates that a packaging practitioner possesses packaging knowledge, experience and skills to the degree that they
deserve recognition as a true packaging professional — a cut
above their peers.
To find out more about the Certified Packaging Professional
designation, email the AIP on educate@aipack.com.au.
Australian Institute of Packaging
www.aipack.com.au

vertical pattern nozzle. The resulting glue patterns are void-free, which improves adhesive bonding performance. The system
offers precise control over the amount of adhesive applied to a label, the position of the adhesive pattern on a label and
the size of the leading and trailing edge glue patterns.
The system is controlled by a single Allen-Bradley platform that controls both labeller and glue system operation. The
recipes for every container/label/adhesive combination are stored in the PLCâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s memory. There is virtually no need for operators to set up and adjust the system during operation, which reduces downtime and training requirements.
The recipe-based technology reduces applied glue weight variation by a minimum of 50% when compared to traditional
glue wheel systems. The technology also eliminates glue slinging, angel hair and glue build-up on the vacuum drum and
glue wires, and reduces glue waste. Glue recirculation is reduced by over 90%, which eliminates overcooking the glue
and damaging its bonding properties.
The system can handle the highest speeds its host labeller is capable of achieving â&#x20AC;&#x201D; up to 650 cpm with the highspeed Marathon XLA and XLUA models.
The applicator is suitable for all hot melt adhesives currently used for roll-fed labelling, as well as higher viscosity adhesives that will not run on glue wheel or spray glue systems.
Le Mac Australia Group Pty Ltd
www.lemacaustralia.com.au

www.foodprocessing.com.au

November/December 2016

25

PACKAGING, LABELLING & CODING

Pig processor centralises vacuum supply
or the packaging. They evacuate rapidly from
the prevacuum of 50 mbar to the final pressure
within the packaging of less than 5 mbar. This
two-stage evacuation arrangement and the
controller system allow packaging cycle times
to be reduced substantially.
A second vacuum network for foil
thermoforming is operated independently of
the packaging vacuum. The thermoforming
vacuum ring is maintained at 130 to 200 mbar,
a considerably higher pressure than the level
required for packaging. All the vacuum pumps
required for the thermoforming of foil to trays are
integrated into the centralised vacuum system
and are thus located away from the packaging
areas.

Energy efficiency

Pini Polonia operates three production facilities in Poland
which slaughter and process 1000 pigs/h. The newest facility
was commissioned in April 2015, and it manufactures cooked
ham, salami and other sliced meat products. Located close
to the companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s existing abattoir and processing centres,
the site employs 850 staff and is equipped with the latest
technology, producing 130 tons of cooked ham and 60 tons
of salami in a two-shift system.
The Pini Polonia management team was certain from the
outset of project planning that a centralised vacuum system
for the 24 packaging lines would be the best solution. In
comparison to directly mounted vacuum pumps, centralised
systems offer higher levels of energy efficiency, hygiene and
performance.
Pini Polonia chose a Busch system, and Busch vacuum
specialists were involved from the start, helping with
specifications for the pipework, the location of the centralised
system and the development of the controller unit. When the
new plant started production, it was equipped with one of
the most modern and efficient centralised vacuum systems
in Europe.
As the individual packaging machines are not in close
proximity to each other, it was decided to implement a socalled partial decentralisation. Panda vacuum boosters are
mounted directly to the packaging machines, and all the R
5 rotary vane vacuum pumps are located in a separate room.
This arrangement allows the rotary vane vacuum pumps to
work at maximum efficiency, resulting in short evacuation
times at every packaging machine.
The R 5 rotary vane vacuum pumps maintain a permanent
prevacuum of 50 mbar throughout the pipework system. The
Panda vacuum boosters operate on demand and activate
only when a vacuum of 5 mbar is required in the chamber

26

November/December 2016

Due to their working principle, centralised
vacuum systems require fewer vacuum pumps
than decentralised systems. The two-stage
evacuation process permits the use of rotary
vane vacuum pumps with a smaller volumetric
displacement, so the motor size can be reduced.
The system controller maintains a vacuum of 50 mbar in the
pipework system, which acts as a vacuum reservoir for all
the packaging lines.
Only the number of vacuum pumps required to maintain
50 mbar are active at any one time. As the packaging lines do
not always run with short cycle times and high throughput,
normally only a few of the vacuum pumps are in operation.
A further energy saving is achieved by vacuum supply
centralisation: the vacuum pumps operate in a separate
room, so no heat is given off to the packaging area. The airconditioning unit of the packaging area has less work to do
and thus requires less energy.

Improved hygiene
As the vacuum supply is centralised, no servicing of the
rotary vane vacuum pumps is carried out in the clean areas
of the packaging and processing lines. Any possibility of
food contamination by oil aerosol (by equipment misuse)
is excluded.

Maintenance
Centralised vacuum systems have a modular construction.
Individual modules may be disconnected for maintenance
purposes, in which case a standby unit will activate
automatically. Servicing tasks can thus be carried out without
affecting the packaging line output. As the vacuum pumps in a
centralised system are subjected to lighter loads, the servicing
intervals are longer than those of decentralised systems. The
external location of the centralised vacuum supply is an
additional advantage, as maintenance work does not cause
production downtime or contamination of clean areas.
Busch Australia Pty Ltd
www.busch.com.au

www.foodprocessing.com.au

Flexible self-closing
pouch
PepUp is an innovative, flexible, one

Bag in box and
pouch filler

hand use and self-closing pouch from
Gualapack Group Italy.

Sacmi Packaging’s BIB & Pouch

Available in three forms — small flat

Filler features filling valves capable

bottle 40 to 200 mL, flat bottle 20 to 500 mL

of handling from 1.5 to 25 L stand-

and ultimate stand-up pouch 100 to 500 mL

up pouch and bag-in-box formats.

— the pouch can be produced with different

The machine is compact and

laminate structures, making it suitable for both

offers high productivity, nitrogen
along with contamination and
product leakage prevention to
ensure oxygen absorption of less
than 0.4 ppm and a filling precision of 0.3%.
The filler is suitable for wine,
beverages, dairy, syrups, edible
oils and detergents.
HBM Packaging Technologies
www.hbm.com.au

food and non-food products. Food uses include wa-

PACKAGING, LABELLING & CODING

injection and steam sterilisation

ters, juices and beverages, yoghurts and dairy snacks, wine and premix, snacks,
sauces and dressings. Non-food markets include health and beauty, home and
car care and industrials.
The pouch is safe to use as it has no sharp or cutting edges and a transparent
option is available. It assists in eliminating product waste, is ultralight and compact, and recyclable versions are available. It is suitable for use in venues such
as concert halls and stadiums as well as for all outdoor activities.
Unique and differentiating on shelf, the 360° high-quality print in matt or gloss
makes a visual impact.
Suitable for postal delivery, it offers efficient logistics and a low cost per unit.
High-speed filling options are also available.
Metalprint Australia Pty Ltd
www.auspouch.com.au

www.foodprocessing.com.au

November/December 2016

27

Temperature-controlled packaging for
blood products
DGP Intelsius has extended its ORCA range of temperature-controlled packaging with the introduction of the +22°C Plantol Phase Change Material
(PCM), which meets the global requirements for the transportation of whole
blood products at the temperature range 20–24°C.
The transit time for blood and blood components should not normally

PACKAGING, LABELLING & CODING

exceed 24 h: any variations from the specified temperature ranges during
transportation can have detrimental effects on the efficacy of the constituents
of blood, which could reduce the clinical benefits.
To ensure an uninterrupted and precise temperature-controlled blood cold chain, red
blood cell components must be kept at a temperature of 2–10°C during transportation. All
components routinely stored at 20–24°C need to be kept at these temperatures during shipment, and all frozen components
need to maintain their frozen state.
Frozen components, such as Fresh Frozen Plasma (FFP), have been rapidly frozen within 6–8 h of collection and their temperature needs to be maintained at -20°C or lower during transportation.
The temperature-controlled packging provides up to 168 h of thermal protection for 2–8°C, 15–25°C, -20°C and deep frozen
temperature-sensitive payloads. In addition to this, with the now greater need for more complex shipping systems, the 20–24°C
product provides good performance in hot conditions over 144 h against ISTA 7D.
The systems are designed to manage excursion risks, control costs and prioritise patient safety. The range utilises PCMs and
vacuum insulated panels (VIPs) to create high performance while reducing volumetric weight.
DGP Intelsius
www.intelsius.com

As filter animals, oysters are highly susceptible to water
quality. If there’s been a lot of rain flooding into the estuaries
where oysters grow, they can quickly pick up contaminants
that could make people ill. Farmers and regulators want to
avoid that at all costs — so when there is a perceived risk,
oyster farms have to close until conditions improve.
The lack of supply is frustrating for the consumer — but
it’s financially excruciating for farmers. During periods of high
demand, such as Christmas and Chinese New Year, a day’s lost
production can cost farmers $120,000 in foregone revenues.
In the Tasmanian oyster industry, Pacific Oyster Mortality
Syndrome (POMS) has been wreaking havoc. Barilla Bay
Oysters, once one of the state’s largest farmers, lost 70%
of its harvest to the disease in February 2016, crippling its
operations.
“We have no control over what oysters consume — if there
is something coming down the river that isn’t appropriate we
have no control. We could be closed for a couple of days or
a couple of months depending on what is coming down the
river,” explained Justin Goc, manager of Barilla Bay Oysters.

Harnessing data
The problem has been that in the past the industry has
relied largely on rainfall gauges to assess when there may
be a risk, and often been required to shut shop when there’s
actually been no need. Analysis has revealed that around
30% of closures based on rainfall gauge readings are in fact
unwarranted — the water quality and the oysters are fine.
However, the future looks brighter for Barilla Bay Oysters
and the wider Tasmanian oyster industry, with the deployment
of a technology solution developed by AgTech business The
Yield, in partnership with Microsoft, Bosch and Intel.

The technology
The Yield is working with the Tasmanian Government and
oyster farmers in 14 of the state’s estuaries to deploy the new

30

November/December 2016

system, which uses in-estuary sensors to collect data that is
fed through Bosch’s ProSyst software through to the Microsoft
IoT Hub in Microsoft Azure, where it is stored alongside
national weather data. Environmental data and near real-time
sensor data is combined and presented to oyster growers and
regulators as rich dashboard visualisations for the previous
week, today and tomorrow to enable faster decisions based
on local information.
The Yield believes that its technology could be more
broadly deployed in aquaculture and agriculture, allowing
crop growers to know exactly when and how to irrigate, for
example.

Planning during uncertainty
In the oyster industry, while salinity measurement is clearly
important in terms of identifying contamination risks, water
temperature is equally critical to assess the risk of the POMS
virus. Knowing there is bad weather ahead, when it might be
hard for crews to get out in boats to harvest oysters, means
oyster farmers are able to fine-tune their rosters — shaving
cost and boosting efficiencies.
Barilla Bay’s Justin Goc is optimistic that having access to
more information much faster will help oyster farmers gain
a better understanding of what is happening and “how we
can plan in an uncertain future”.
He now knows the salinity and temperature of the water,
and has tide and weather details at his fingertips to help roster
staff. In the future he’s hopeful that even more data could
be collected, such as algal profiles in the bays, which could
provide insight as to which algae promote oyster growth, or
potentially act as a POMS vector.
But ultimately he acknowledges: “It’s a hard business and
you can’t control Mother Nature.”
Microsoft Pty Ltd
www.microsoft.com.au

www.foodprocessing.com.au

Major production changes set for

MEAT, POULTRY & SEAFOOD

meat processors

A number of successful trials using rotary screw vacuum pumps instead of rotary vane pumps in operating
industry-standard rotary vacuum packaging machines is set to have a major impact on the meat processing
industry.

U

ntil now, energy consumption for vacuum pumps in
the meat processing industry was never considered
that seriously.
The usual practice is to start the vacuum pumps
in the morning and turn them off at the end of the shift. They
run for the full duration of the shift unless the operator is
conscientious and shuts them down during breaks. However,
this is about to change as Atlas Copco’s GHS VSD+ rotary screw
vacuum pump offers savings for these particular scenarios.
The trials, held recently at two of Australia’s leading meat
processing plants in Queensland, clearly showed that Atlas
Copco’s rotary screw technology is far superior to the rotary
vane technology presently used in the industry, in both energy
efficiency and maintenance costs.
Atlas Copco Regional Business Line Manager – Utility
Vacuum Pierre Matschke explained that the first trial involved
32

November/December 2016

replacing a 22 kW rotary vane vacuum pump with a 15 kW
rotary screw vacuum pump on the second stage of one of the
meat processor’s vacuum packaging machines.
“The trial showed that our rotary screw vacuum pump,
which has now been running reliably for six months, is far
superior in life cycle costs to the traditional rotary vane
vacuum pump.
“While the customer was very pleased with the +17%
energy saving the machine was achieving, it was when we
looked at the customer’s maintenance costs we realised our
machine was able to make even larger savings by reducing
their maintenance costs drastically.”
The most recent trial achieved even better results, which
involved replacing two 22 kW rotary vane vacuum pumps
with just one 37 kW rotary screw vacuum pump, and one
for one 15 kW on the second stage.

Matschke said the customer was very impressed with the
GHSVSD+’s reaction time and the major savings he is achieving on both energy and maintenance costs.
“As well, the performance of the packaging machine has
improved. With the rotary vane vacuum pumps, the packaging machine used to run at only 2 mbar, as that was the
lowest vacuum they could achieve on most days, but with
our rotary screw vacuum pumps the vacuum is consistently
down to ‘0’ mbar.
“And with less air in the pack, the meat stays fresher with
a longer shelf life; a major benefit for the meat processor,
supermarkets and consumers.”
Matschke admits it was a struggle at first to convince companies of the exceptional benefits of investing in rotary screw
machines but following the outstanding results from the trial
sites, he said companies are now preparing to make the switch.

“And not just energy savings, due to the rotary screw
machine’s proven technology, customers’ maintenance costs
are drastically reduced.”
Atlas Copco has been successfully using the same screw
technology worldwide in its air compressors since the late
1960s, with just minor machining differences to accommodate oil flow in vacuum applications.
Unlike rotary vane pumps, where the vanes are in constant contact with the stator and wear over time, the rotary
screw pumps have no surface contact or wearing parts in
the compression chamber.
This constant contact, and extra load at start-up, means
the vanes need replacing every 16,000 running hours (three
to four years on average) and, depending on the machining
required, overhauls can cost anywhere between $12,000 to
$20,000, which often leads to a complete pump replacement
after just three to four overhauls.
Matschke pointed out that extending the overhaul intervals is not a viable option as it only causes more extensive
damage to the pump, with overhauls costing even more,
plus pump energy consumption increases by around 16%
per year due to wear, adding an average of $5300 over five
years in energy costs alone. Customers also start to see
pack quality reducing.
However, with the rotary screw vacuum pumps, overhaul
intervals are only after 48,000 running hours (11–12 years)
and cost less than half that of rotary vane. And with the
extended intervals of the GHSVSD+, users can experience
a reduction in overhaul costs of ±89% over 10 years.
Also, no machining is required (re-bearing only) plus the
pumps’ efficiencies remain constant throughout the life of
the units and are not affected by start-up, with the VSD
(variable speed drive) offering unlimited starts.
Investing in rotary screw pump technology also offers
major savings on expensive exhaust filters (around $200
each). Due to a multifunction inlet valve, which reduces
the mass flow onto the filters, the rotary screw vacuum
pump set only requires 18 filters as opposed to 48 on the
vane pump set.
Matschke said all these savings mean the ROI on a rotary
screw vacuum pump can be as low as 1.3 years, depending
on the number of overhauls due on existing vane pumps,
and lead to total cost of ownership savings of over $170,000
over five years on just one packaging machine alone.
“We are also working closely with our customers to
generate even more savings such as optimising piping
and integrating the controls so that when the packaging
machine slows or stops so do our machines, saving even
more energy.”

Some of Egypt’s top chefs have come together to
taste test new preparation methods and recipes
for farmed Nile tilapia, as part of a project aimed at
increasing the use of farmed fish to improve food and nutrition security in the region.
At a workshop hosted by WorldFish in partnership with the Egyptian Chef’s
Association, organisers sought to discover chefs’ preferences and influencing factors when
buying seafood and raise awareness of the range of tilapia products available.
Egypt is the world’s second largest producer of tilapia — the country’s most farmed fish — with the industry providing
an average of one fish per week for each of its 90 million people.
Participants at the workshop tasted and gave feedback on new products such as small fish and fillets; two products
rarely found in Egyptian restaurants but widely consumed in America and Europe. This method, based on sensory science
research approaches refined by the Oregon State University’s Food Innovation Center, provides an accurate way to gather
rich consumer acceptance and purchasing data that can be replicated in other geographies for various fish species.
WorldFish hosted the event in collaboration with the Egyptian Chefs Association (ECA), a non-profit organisation
representing 1000 professional chefs in Egypt and a national authority and opinion leader on food. Other highlights of the
workshop, held at the WorldFish Aquaculture Research Center in Abbassa, Sharkeya, included field visits to Nile tilapia
aquaculture farms, a cooking demonstration by chef Markus Iten and an educational session on Egyptian aquaculture.
“Farmed tilapia is affordable, tasty and environmentally friendly, and a healthy source of protein, nutrients and essential
fatty acids. By encouraging chefs to use more farmed tilapia in their restaurants, they will contribute to improved food
and nutrition security in Egypt, where around 17% suffer from food shortages throughout the year,” WorldFish Egypt
Country Program Manager Malcolm Dickson said.

Robotic
picking head
system for
frozen steak
G. Mondini has released
a picking head system
for the robotic loading of
crust-frozen steak.
The system offers processors advantages in labour
reduction, consistent placement and capacity without
compromising on hygiene
The system is fully washdown capable and utilises a
hygienic picking head design that takes advantage of
the Bernoulli Vacuum principle, resulting in a ‘no suck
back’ effect.
The picking system uses the Adept Quattro s650HS
parallel robot, which is USDA accepted for meat and
poultry processing. The four-arm design, control algorithms
and large work envelope make the overhead-mount robot
suitable for smooth-motion, high-throughput applications.
The robot is powered by compact controls and embedded
amplifiers, which reduces the cycle time and improves
the footprint efficiency.
Select Equip
www.selectequip.com.au
34

Kangaroo meat distributor Macro Meats is planning to establish a processing plant
in Europe to target the home cooking market.
Kangaroo production was commercialised in the late 1980s and Macro
Meats now processes about 10,000 tonnes/year for consumption in more than
30 countries.
The South Australian company currently sells about 75% of its kangaroo
products domestically but is looking to grow sales in Europe, North America
and Asia.
Moving from success in restaurants to finding a place in retail outlets with
everyday kangaroo products such as hamburgers, sausages, meatballs and stir-fry
strips has been a key to Macro Meats’ success in Australia.
However, export rules require meat to be shipped from Australia in whole pieces,
making it less appealing to the cook-at-home market, and prompting Macro Meats’ decision
to open its own value-adding processing plant in Europe.
“If you’ve just got lumps of meat or steaks, sometimes it’s a little bit too much when you’re trying to introduce it
to people for the first time. So we want to be able to do meatballs or burgers or stir fries depending on the country
and what they want,” said managing director Ray Borda.
“This is a pilot plant and depending on how that works we hope to end up having a processing
plant in Europe, Asia and the Americas,” Borda said.
“It’s ambitious, but we think we are sitting on gold — Australia is the only place in the
world where you can get this product from and if we control it and market it then nobody is
going to be able to do it like we do.”
Macro Meats’ species-specific range is designed to promote greater consistency for consumers
and will include the mild-tasting Paroo (red kangaroo), medium-flavoured Mallee Roo (western
grey kangaroo) and the robust Mulga Roo (eastern grey kangaroo).

www.foodprocessing.com.au

November/December 2016

35

Vision inspection system at meatworks

MEAT, POULTRY & SEAFOOD

ensures compliance

A leading Brisbane-based meatworks producing high volumes needed an inspection system that guaranteed
speed, product integrity and accuracy.

T

he Brisbane meatworks is unique. It is a globally
recognised, fully integrated facility that completes
a full circle in beef production including slaughter,
boning, value add, retail ready and distribution.
According to its production manager the site processes some
1200 head of cattle per day.
Apart from bulk meats it also produces stir-fry and diced
beef and veal; beef sausages; corned, marinated, glazed and
coated beef and veal products; corned beef silverside; and
hamburger patties.
As a supplier of fresh meat products to major supermarkets and consumers across Australia, the company needed to
ensure its products are never wrongly labelled, never display
illegible date codes or have damaged packaging.
Through its integration partner, Pac Technologies, the
meatworks commissioned Omron to install a vision inspection system that would minimise the risk of sending out any
non-compliant products.
“All final packaged product lines were installed with
Omron’s FQ2 vision inspection cameras for traceability of all
shelf-ready meat products,” said Omron’s Queensland state
manager, Paul Gibb.
“The main aim was to increase productivity, while maintaining consistent, high-quality standards.”
36

November/December 2016

Stringent requirements
“We currently have an annual production of over 15 million
kilos for national distribution to prominent retail and supermarket shelves,” the product manager said.
“Due to very stringent requirements demanded by our retail
distribution partners, our entire packaged shelf-ready product
needs to be exactly as per what it is ordered and labelled as.
“The biggest challenge for any meatworks is traceability.
Most facilities traditionally rely on casual labour in the final
packaging and inspection process.
“We turned to Omron to assist us in greatly reducing the
risk of sending out non-compliant product final packaged
product,” the production manager said.
A challenge for this application was to check both 1D and
2D barcodes at varying focal lengths on the final production
line. Also there was a requirement to check and verify the
date code on each shelf-ready product.

Vision solution
Kim Simonsen from Pac Technologies, in conjunction with
Omron application engineers, created a vision solution using
FQ2 machine vision cameras on each line. On some lines,
two cameras were used at varying focal lengths to handle the
varying heights of the target product.

Hundreds of different variants
“There are common issues emerging when talking to each
company about checking integrity and accuracy of the final
packaged product and its labelling and identification,” Gibb
said.
“Hundreds of different product and label variants, many
types of barcodes and date codes, varying existing PLC ar-

The solution
Omron FQ2 supports up to nine types of barcodes. Whether
it’s for verification or barcode character reading, the FQ2 can
easily meet customers’ requirements.
The Australian meat industry uses GS1-databar code widely
and FQ2 has been successfully used for product verification
and production information inspection.

2D Code
FQ2 can read the main six types of 2D codes. There is no
need to use more than one code reader — even for processing
that combines different types of codes.
FQ not only forms a powerful and accurate vision inspection/data sharing network. It is the beginnings of a fully futureproofed new single-platform, plant-wide architecture, ready
for upcoming robotics, RFID, safety and advanced sensing.
That platform is Sysmac — Omron’s new machine automation platform.
With Sysmac (System for Machine Automation Control) you
have one control for the entire machine or production cell.
Omron Electronics Pty Ltd
www.omron.com.au

www.foodprocessing.com.au

November/December 2016

37

MEAT, POULTRY & SEAFOOD

The carton barcode is pre-checked to verify that the product is as expected before the individual packs are checked.
“We accessed some very powerful algorithms built in to
the FQ2 camera to achieve what the customer needed to
satisfy their date and barcode checks,” said Yang Qui, a senior application engineer from Omron Electronics, Brisbane.
“OCR, or objective character recognition, was used to not
only check for the presence of the date code, but actually
read the text to ensure that the date code was correct and
readable. The small-sized 2D barcode was a challenge, and
required us to employ the high-resolution version of the
FQ2 vision camera to obtain a reliable and accurate reading
each and every time.”
Gibb said Omron is also assisting other Queensland-based
meatworks that produce down to shelf-ready product as well
as bulk packs.

chitecture, high turnover of transient workforce and a hostile
operating environment all present a challenge to a solid and
reliable vision solution.”
One of the main challenges was how to process the data
once reliable and accurate judgements of the final product
are obtained.
“In this instance we used our powerful and flexible NJ
Machine controller with SQL connectivity and Ethernet IP to
communicate directly to the customer’s database without the
need for any software-based middleware,” Gibb said. “Since
Omron’s NJ controller has the option of Ethernet IP communications, it communicated directly with the customer’s existing
PLCs, creating a seamless network from camera to database.”
Gibb said Omron’s FQ2 vision cameras are rugged enough
to be installed directly on the production line in a meatworks
hosedown environment and they have enough capacity to
store more than the customer’s total product line-up and
label varieties.
Gibb said the main issues for quality assurance (QA) inspection in the meat industry are:
• Hundreds of different products and labels
• IP rating camera
• Huge variety of codes, different types of barcode, different type of 2D Codes
• Complex production and device information like expiry
date, batch number, lot number, stamp
• Many workers lack technology, knowledge and training
• Difficult to use traditional sensors or PLCs to collect all
of the information
• Difficult to integrate PLC/vision/motion/sensors all together
• Difficult to manage QA inspection information
• Image logging? Data logging?
• How to integrate to existing SCADA software

The development of antibiotic resistance in humans may be somewhat
overemphasised with respect to the risk posed by Australian meat
and other livestock products, according to a recent survey.

A

ll around the world there is increasing concern that
the use of antibiotics, especially third-generation ones,
in the livestock and pet industries is contributing to
the development of ‘superbugs’ — disease-causing
bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics and could potentially
spread incurable diseases to humans.
The only problem with this conjecture was that there were
no studies investigating the prevalence of antimicrobial resistance in Australian livestock and pets. We simply did not know
our level of risk.
Now, however, the results of the first nationwide survey of
antibiotic resistance in disease-causing bacteria in Australian
livestock and pets have been released — and the news is good.
Rates of resistance to critically important drugs were found
to be low and to compare very favourably with other countries
around the world. This means the development of antibiotic
resistance in humans may be somewhat overemphasised with
respect to the risk posed by Australian meat and other livestock
products. On a commercial level, consumers can be assured that
buying Australian is safer.
The survey findings were released at the official launch of
the University of Adelaide-located Australian Centre for Antimicrobial Resistance Ecology (ACARE). The new centre will
monitor drug-resistant bugs in both humans and animals across
Australia, and research the development of resistance and new
ways of controlling disease.
Murdoch University researcher Dr Sam Abraham, who was a
collaborator in the study, said, “These findings strongly suggest
that Australia’s companion-animal and livestock veterinarians
are largely following good antimicrobial stewardship principles
when prescribing antibiotics to cure infections in animals.”
The project leader of the Australia-wide survey, Professor
Darren Trott, said the survey result is an A-grade report for
Australian agricultural industries and animal health practitioners.
“We are starting from a good base, but we need to ensure these
rates are kept low by promoting One Health-focused initiatives
on antibiotic stewardship, infection control and biosecurity, and
38

November/December 2016

viable alternatives to antibiotics. Surveillance is the yardstick
whereby all these excellent initiatives can be collectively measured,” said Professor Trott.
“It shows that concerns over animal antimicrobials contributing to the development of antibiotic resistance in humans may
be somewhat overemphasised with respect to the risk posed by
Australian meat and other livestock products.
“However, there is no way we should be resting on our
laurels. We did find some resistance and we know this is a
developing global problem.
“We now have an Australian benchmark showing where we
are currently with respect to disease-causing bacteria in animals,
and we need to ensure ongoing surveillance and continued vigilance, with good prescribing practice across livestock and pets
by our veterinarians — just as we need in human medicine.”
Main findings from the report, which was initiated and funded
by animal health company Zoetis, include:
• extremely low rates of resistance to third-generation cephalosporins (<3%) and fluoroquinolones (<1%) in E. coli
isolated from livestock;
• the absence of resistance to carbapenems (the antibiotic
of last resort in humans) in both companion animal and
livestock E. coli;
• uniformly low rates of resistance (<10%) to some critically
important antimicrobials (third-generation cephalosporins and
fluoroquinolones) in E. coli isolated from companion animals
(equivalent to the rates observed in humans in Australia).
John Tunbridge, adjunct professor at the University of Adelaide and senior medical advisor to the Australian Commission
on Safety and Quality in Health Care, said the findings will
be the first of the animal component of One Health national
antimicrobial resistance surveillance.
“The first report of the human component, AURA 2016, was
recently released by the commission. This landmark report has
identified some significant issues in the use of antimicrobials
and antimicrobial resistance in human health, and identifies
areas for improvement,” Tunbridge said.

www.foodprocessing.com.au

Reducing the scourge of

dark meat post-slaughter

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BRING

PORTIONING

TO A NEW
LEVEL

The new I-Cut 130 PortionCutter
is the ideal machine for high-value
portioning of red meat.
The machine’s new vision system
together with numerous advanced
cutting patterns and software
features ensure superior portioning
accuracy and maximum return on
investment.
Contact: Andrew Voke +61 407 736 729
marel.com/oceania

Inghams is one of Australia’s largest poultry providers,
supplying Australian families with quality chicken and turkey
products.
Inghams (Inghams Enterprises) believes in ‘doing things
right’ and its commitment to reducing waste by recycling and
re-using its products and waste materials is no different.
As part of the company’s sustainability strategy, Inghams
Enterprises has set an ambitious goal of zero waste to landfill.
In 2014, Inghams enlisted SUEZ’s expertise in recycling and
recovery to help meet this challenge.
SUEZ Queensland State Sales Manager Liesl Hull worked
with Inghams to implement complete waste management
solutions at its Murarrie Processing Plant and its Advanced
Water Treatment Plant.
While an initial waste audit demonstrated that Inghams
started on a strong footing, the challenge was to identify
simple and cost-effective ways to achieve further diversion
from landfill, while maintaining overall workplace efficiency.
“By reviewing Inghams’ existing arrangements, we identified
a number of gaps. We introduced soiled plastics, paper towel
recycling and specialised liquid services solutions at the
Murarrie Processing Plant. We also provided liquid services
for their on-site award winning Advanced Water Treatment
Plant,” said Liesl.
The Murarrie Advanced Water Treatment Plant received the
Australian Prime Minister’s Water Wise Award in 2010, which
demonstrates Inghams’ commitment to sustainability.

40

November/December 2016

“At times, operations at the plant were interrupted due to
overloaded waste pits. We sat down with the Inghams team to
review and forecast their liquid waste volumes and together
developed a reliable service schedule that fit their specific
requirements.
“We also introduced a number of innovations that transform
the way Inghams handles soiled plastics. Plastic waste is now
washed, shredded and then recycled. A further 20 tonnes of
plastics per month is now diverted from landfill.
“We have also implemented other simple but effective steps
for Inghams to be more cost efficient, including introducing a
cardboard compactor to make recycling much easier,” Liesl
said.
Engagement with over 1000 on-site employees was an
important part of the change process, and included face-to-face
training and regular communications on the new recycling
practices.
Providing Inghams with a complete waste management
solution has led to a significant cost saving of more than 30%
per annum and an increased diversion rate of 95% at both
plants.
With the zero-waste-to-landfill target edging closer, Inghams
and SUEZ are now looking at further ways to achieve greater
diversion and recovery.
SUEZ
www.suez-environnement.com

www.foodprocessing.com.au

NEWS

Meat

Experts warn booming
seaweed industry of the
risks of rapid growth

www.foodprocessing.com.au

November/December 2016

MEAT, POULTRY & SEAFOOD

The seaweed industry is expanding at a
rapid rate, driven by new and valuable uses
for the crop — from food and fertiliser to
pharmaceuticals and industrial gels. The annual harvest is currently
25 million metric tons, valued at US$6.4 billion in 2014.
But such growth comes with risks, and experts are now urging the
industry to take heed of the lessons learned in both agriculture and fish
farming in order to avoid the potential pitfalls.
Drawing on the expertise of 21 institutions worldwide, UN University’s
Canadian-based Institute for Water, Environment and Health and the
Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS) have published policy advice to the seaweed industry, to help it
avoid expensive mistakes and pursue best practices, backed by relevant case studies involving crops like bananas
and shrimp.
Problems of rapid expansion
However, the policy authors warn of unforeseen ecological and societal consequences from the rapid expansion of
any industry, urging industry leaders to focus on a range of issues, including:
• Biosecurity — preventing the introduction of disease and non-indigenous pests and pathogens.
• Investing in risk assessment and early disease detection.
• Building know-how and capacity within the sector.
• Cooperative planning to anticipate and resolve conflicts between competing interests in finite coastal marine
resources.
• Establishing management policies and institutions at both national and international levels.

41

TESTING

Finally, a way to
culture norovirus
in the lab
Forty-eight years after noroviruses were first identified, researchers have found a way to grow them in the lab
— opening a path for researchers to develop systems to prevent and treat norovirus infections.

N

orovirus, also known as winter vomiting bug
or the cruise ship virus, is the leading cause of
illness and outbreaks from contaminated food.
The virus is very tiny and very infective — as
few as 18 virus particles can cause illness. Food can get
contaminated with norovirus when infected people who
have stool or vomit on their hands touch the food; when
the food touches surfaces that have infectious stool or vomit
on them; or when aerolised vomit from an infected person
sprays through the air and lands on the food.
Foods can also be contaminated at source — for example,
oysters grown in contaminated water or fruit and vegetables
contaminated in the field.
Noroviruses are species specific — human noroviruses only
infect and cause disease in humans, and mouse noroviruses
only do so in mice. Human noroviruses do not grow in mice
or other small animal models typically used for research.
You would think such an endemic virus would have
been extensively studied but scientists have struggled to
culture the viruses in the lab — until now.
Scientists at Baylor College of Medicine have, for the
first time, succeeded at growing noroviruses in laboratory
cultures of human intestinal epithelial cells. This work,
published in Science, represents a major step forward in
the study of human gastroenteritis viruses because it establishes a system in which a number of norovirus strains
can be grown, which will allow researchers to explore and
develop procedures to prevent and treat infection and to
better understand norovirus biology.
“People have been trying to grow norovirus in the lab
for a very long time. We tried for the last 20 years. Despite
42

November/December 2016

all the attempts and the success of growing other viruses, it
remained a mystery why noroviruses were so hard to work
with,” said senior author Dr Mary Estes, Cullen endowed
professor of human and molecular virology and microbiology at Baylor and emeritus founding director of the Texas
Medical Center Digestive Diseases Center.
“My idea was that we had not succeeded at growing
noroviruses because we didn’t have the right cell type,”
said Estes. “We first showed that in patients with chronic
norovirus infections, the virus could be detected in intestinal cells called enterocytes, but normal human enterocyte
cells rapidly died when put into culture. A breakthrough
came when we learned that Dr Hans Clevers’ team in the
Netherlands had developed a method to make a new type
of human intestinal epithelial cell culture system including enterocytes. These novel, multicellular human cultures,
called enteroids, are made from adult intestinal stem cells
from patient tissues. We anticipated that putting the virus
in these non-transformed human cell cultures would let
the virus grow.”
It took Estes and colleagues about one year to get the
human intestinal epithelial cultures growing well in the
lab. Then, before they tested the cultures with noroviruses,
they tested them with another human gastrointestinal virus,
rotavirus.
“Rotavirus grew well in the human intestinal epithelial
cell cultures,” said Estes. “Then, we tried the human norovirus and found that some strains would grow, but others
wouldn’t. We suspected that still something was missing.”
The researchers tried to improve the growth of the viruses by adding to the cultures substances that are naturally

present in the upper small intestine, the natural environment where the virus grows. Other intestinal viruses, such
as rotavirus, use these substances to grow inside the body.
“The human body responds to food by secreting enzymes
from the pancreas and bile from the liver into the small
intestine. Pancreatic enzymes digest the large molecules and
bile solubilises fats,” said Dr David Y Graham, professor of
medicine and molecular virology and microbiology at Baylor
and the Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center.
“Viruses that cause gastroenteritis, such as rotavirus, utilise

pancreatic enzymes to trigger their replication, but these
enzymes had no effect on norovirus. We asked, if pancreatic
enzymes were not important, was bile a key component allowing the virus to recognise where it was and replicate?”
“When we added bile to the cultures, norovirus strains that
didn’t grow before now grew in large numbers!” said Estes.
“This new cultivation system will finally allow us to
gain an insight into how this virus causes disease,” said
co-first author Dr Sue Crawford, an assistant professor of
molecular virology and microbiology at Baylor.

www.foodprocessing.com.au

November/December 2016

43

Detection and identification of
beverage spoilage yeasts
The Pall GeneDisc product range has been expanded with
a flexible solution designed so that beverage industries can
detect and identify spoilage yeast in a timely fashion.
There are two testing options — a yeast screening test
and a yeast identification test — for the 12 major beverage

TESTING

spoilage yeast species and genera, including Saccharomyces
cerevisiae var. diastaticus and Brettanomyces bruxellensis.
For yeast slurry testing and colony identification, results
are available in only 2 h. To determine the presence of down
to one microorganism in the sample, the test results can be
available in as little as 30 h.
Spoilage risk is greatly reduced as users obtain results
faster and earlier in their process. As an example, with
only 2 h from sample to result, breweries can prevent pitching contaminated yeast. In addition, beverage producers
including breweries, wineries and wine bottlers can now consider next-day batch release controls.
The easy-to-use solution can be implemented at beverage producers from small to large across different industries.
It complements the existing GeneDisc solutions for the detection of beer and TAB spoilage organisms.
Pall (Australia) Pty Ltd
www.pall.com

Small, hyperspectral multilinescan camera
XIMEA’s xiSpec Multi-Linescan HSI camera is based on the
design and technology of the xiQ series of industrial USB
3.0 cameras.
Instead of using a mosaic pattern of hyperspectral filters,
the camera features a linewise arrangement of 150 HSI
bands. Due to the high frame rate of the image sensor, the
camera enables the detailed and crisp capture of moving
objects at multiple wavelengths. The objects can be moved
orthogonally to the horizontal colour filters of a mounted
camera on a conveyor belt or the camera can be attached
to a UAV, which flies over a large area.
The visual and near-infrared (NIR) spectrum of the camera
is suitable for agriculture. Other applications include food
inspection, precision agriculture, sorting and defect detection, and optical sorting.
SciTech Pty Ltd
www.scitech.com.au

offers good repeatability when weighing minute forces without use of a
draft shield.
The star-shaped SmartPan weighing pan, which is integrated into the
balance, fosters repeatability at resolutions down to 1 mg while delivering

The instrument purifies nucleic acid using novel para-

results up to twice as fast as a comparable balance using a draft shield.

magnetic particles and allows optimal capture, wash

Elimination of the draft shield makes weigh-in quicker and easier. This

and elution of the target material from 1 to 16 samples

serves to enhance lab productivity and help operators to have a more

with minimal manual intervention. Because there are no

comfortable weighing process.

tubes or pipette tips involved, there are no clogs, drips,

The weighing pan design is said to maintain a faster-than-average

splashing or aerosols, greatly reducing contamination

settling time inside a fume hood, where continuous drafts are used to

risk. The instrument is supplied with preprogrammed

eliminate the danger posed by airborne gas or other toxins. Under these

purification methods and is designed for use with the

subtly more difficult conditions, XPE Precision 5 and 10 mg models in

predispensed reagent cartridges, maximising simplicity

particular continue to deliver results up to twice as fast, with the balance’s

and convenience.

two-fold improvement in repeatability, without resorting to draft shield use.

Promega Pty Ltd

Mettler-Toledo Ltd

www.promega.com

www.mt.com

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November/December 2016

45

TESTING

samples including corn, soybeans, canola, ground pork,

Test bag
If water samples are being tested with
colour-changing reagents, the Coli-Test Bag
from Whirl-Pak can be used in place of a
bottle. The bag is made of a special barrier
film suitable for use with enzyme-based
methods that result in a chromogen and/
or a fluorogen release when total coliform
and E. coli are present. The special film

TESTING

prevents colour change from permeating
through the bag, contaminating another
sample and creating a false positive, and making contact with a personâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s skin if they are not
wearing gloves.
It is sterile, contains 10 mg of active sodium thiosulfate to neutralise chlorine, has a 100Â mL
fill line and is completely self-standing, with no rack or holder needed to keep the bag upright. If the sample is not chlorinated, the bag can still be used; the sodium thiosulfate will
not affect the sample, it is non-toxic and non-nutritive, and only neutralises chlorine if present.
The Coli-Test bag has been accepted by the EPA in USA and is listed in the EPA Manual
for the Certification of Laboratories Analyzing Drinking Water.
The bag, which is available from AMSL Scientific, reduces costs as it is less expensive than
the bottle, and incurs lower freight charges and reduced disposal costs.
Australasian Medical & Scientific Ltd
www.amsl.com.au

Portable pH meters for food industry
Hanna Instruments has launched a line of portable pH meters for the
food industry. The Professional Foodcare pH Meter range includes
a general-purpose model (HI98161) and versions specific for milk
(HI98163), yoghurt (HI98164) and cheese (HI98165) products. Each
meter is supplied with a unique pH/temperature probe that has
been modified to deliver high performance and reliability.
The pH of a food can influence taste and texture and can also
indicate the potential for spoilage. Industries are often required to
measure pH and document the readings for record keeping. The
meters allows for the log-on demand of measurements that can
then be transferred to a Windows-compatible computer with the
supplied USB cable and software. The Good Laboratory Practice
(GLP) data including calibrations date, time, offset, slope and buffers
used is also transferred with logged readings for increased traceability.
During the calibration process, the user is alerted if the electrode needs to
be cleaned or if buffers are contaminated; and after calibration, the overall
condition of the pH electrode is displayed as a percentage. The overall
condition is based on the offset and slope characteristic of the pH electrode.
From refrigerated products, high solid content slurries and solids to
semi-solids, food products can challenge a standard pH electrode. Each pH
electrode supplied with the application-specific meters has unique features including
the body material used, the shape of the sensing tip, the type of glass used and most
importantly, the reference junction. Many of the electrodes have an open junction design
that resists clogging.
Hanna Instruments Pty Ltd
www.hannainst.com.au

46

November/December 2016

www.foodprocessing.com.au

ÂŠ stock.adobe.com/au/branex

PROCESSING

Hygienic welding

in the food and beverage industry
The hygienic requirements of the food and beverage industry place
high demands on the welds that hold tanks, pipes and vessels together.

T

he requirements for a high quality weld and weld
surface finish are paramount in the dairy and other
food and beverage industries as the consequences of
surface discontinuity can be costly and dangerous.
Recent contamination scares in the dairy sector provide
some examples of the consequence of not getting things right.
In effect, every metre of weld inside a storage or process tank
or vessel represents a risk to be managed. Fabricators must
make significant efforts to ensure that both the weld integrity
is adequate and that the surface finish meets the specified
requirement for hygiene.

Automatic keyhole plasma arc welding (KPAW)
In the early 2000s, after a number of in-house implementations
of semiautomatic welding, Furphy Engineering began searching
for automated welding equipment to produce higher quality
welds with improved efficiency. A global search resulted in
the selection of keyhole plasma arc welding (KPAW) as the
desired welding method.
French welding company SAF (Air Liquide Welding) was
identified as the leading proponent of this equipment at the
time, and remains at the forefront of KPAW development
today, producing keyhole plasma welding equipment with
48

November/December 2016

automated installations particularly suited to the tank/ vessel
manufacturing sector.
KPAW enables an excellent weld quality to be produced,
with the introduction of minimal heat and with no removal
of parent material required for weld preparation. Unlike the
TIG process, which is susceptible to tungsten inclusions from
the exposed electrode, KPAW has no exposed electrode and
consequently significantly reduced risk of inclusions.
Weld quality is evidenced by the superior radiography test
performance that results from the KPAW method. Butt welds
up to 8 mm thickness can be completed in a single pass with
only a gas backing shield required. Weld reinforcement is
minimised and this assists in the subsequent surface treatment
to obtain a smooth weld finish suitable for sterile applications.
Early KPAW equipment didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t come preloaded with the
variety of programs that modern day plasmaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s do and, when
compared to other processes of the day, the systems were at
first intolerant of all but the most precise preparation. This
fostered a strong focus on stringently consistent weld preparation and the development of a robust welding R&D program
became essential to realising the full potential of the process.
The need to tightly control preparation and understand the
technicalities of this process in turn led Furphy to focus on

welding system control. The company expanded its AS 1796
welding supervisors program and today has three WTIA accredited AS 1796 Certificate 10 Welding Supervisors, with a fourth
in the pipeline. Welding supervisors oversaw the development
of our KPAW process and the writing of the welding programs,
still in use today.
The original implementation of the plasma process quickly
raised questions around achieving compliance with welding
standards such as AS/NZS 3992 Pressure equipment – Welding
and brazing qualification, which (for example) doesn’t always
directly address compliance matters such as thicknesses ranges
qualified for KPAW.
Having a strong process and personnel developmental framework allowed Furphy to negotiate such compliance questions
successfully on an ongoing basis. In the thickness range example, Furphy used internationally recognised standards such
as ASME IX to fill in the ‘compliance blanks’, as permitted
within the scope of AS/NZS 3992.
Furphy Engineering is now operating four KPAW machines
which together perform 100% of the circumferential/seam welds
in the hundreds of tanks that are produced in its Shepparton
workshops. The consistency now delivered by the KPAW process
has now dovetailed with the automated polishing systems to

Technical expertise and process development in the welding
area enabled the development of Furphy’s Laser Beam Welded
(LBW) heat exchanger plate. The use of cooling (or heating) cavity plates – an outer skin on a tank shell separated by a cavity
to enable liquid to be passed through and across the surface of
the tank to cool or heat – is one of a number of heat transfer
options available when designing a process or storage tank.
The term used often in the industry for such equipment is
‘dimple plate’ owing to the dimpled appearance of the welds
which attach the outer skin to the shell. The manufacture of
this plate was originally very labour-intensive with the pressed
and punched plate being placed over the outer skin of the
formed tank and then manually welded at the punched holes
and outer seams. Modern methods of producing dimple plate
involve fusing the flat thinner outer skin to the shell of the
tank prior to rolling the tank and then using hydraulic (Furphy Engineering inflate dimple plates to 4000 kPa) pressure to
deform the thinner outer skin and therefore create the cavity.
Dimple plate is essentially pressure equipment. Operating
pressures within the cavity can be as high as 1,000 kPa. The
result of poor welding in the manufacture of dimple plate can
be disastrous. Leaking of coolant (dimple plates can be used to
heat but are predominantly used to cool) through the shell and
into the tank can contaminate and destroy the stored product.
Leaking of coolant externally can damage insulation. Repair can
be difficult as the dimple plate is usually covered by insulation
and a hard cladding, both of which must be removed. Weld
tint from repair operations is likely and must be removed by
gaining access to the inside of the tank.
Single embossed dimple (lap welded without through penetration) using the LBW process isn’t captured in Australian
standards. The designer/manufacturer is instead referred to ASME
VIII (and IX) to establish the necessary design verification testing and subsequent manufacturing requirements, such as weld
procedure qualification. However, Furphy’s dimple design is
unique even in this context, with no accurate representation
given for this design/weld process combination in ASME VIII.
Therefore, Furphy utilised a hybrid test regime incorporating all key elements in consultation with experts such as the
WTIA, and also obtained third party witnessing and approval
as is a requirement of the test standard. As a result, Furphy’s
LBW cavity plate is Worksafe design registrable (if required),
independently verified and manufactured in compliance with
the pressure equipment standard for maximum reliability – a
key element in any process plant environment.
Furphy Engineering
www.furphys.com.au

www.foodprocessing.com.au

November/December 2016

49

PROCESSING

deliver the highest quality and consistency sanitary finishing
essential for clients in the food, beverage and pharmaceutical
industries.

Spray nozzles for conveyor cleaning
Food and beverage manufacturing can be a dirty, sticky business.
Often manual conveyor cleaning is undertaken to ensure hygiene
protocols are attained. However, effective conveyor cleaning is
achievable by installing the correct spray nozzles for the job.
Tecpro Australia offers a wide range of spray nozzles suitable
for every situation, plus technical consultants and engineers to
provide advice and custom-designed spraying systems — including spray bars and manifolds — for any application.

PROCESSING

An automated conveyor cleaning system should provide uniformed cleaning across the entire conveyor, as well as efficient

ATP result tracking

water usage. Planned positioning of spray nozzles is required for

Rapid cleaning verification technologies are wide-

optimal results. Other factors to consider include available water

spread throughout the food and beverage industry. A popular

pressure and flow rate, nozzle size, droplet size and spray pattern.

method involves detection of ATP as an indicator for product
residues remaining on a surface after cleaning, but many
systems are not capable of collecting or analysing the data.
The Biocontrol MVP ICON, available from AMSL Scientific,
comes packaged with dashboard software which allows
users to save data onto the instrument and eliminate the
need for recording results manually. This information is then
synched to the dashboard database for tracking, trending
and reporting.
By identifying trends and problem spots, cleaning regimes
can be modified accordingly, saving labour and chemicals
and preventing contamination. Over the long term, by identifying trends and fixing problems, it is possible that the overall
amount of testing can be reduced. The technology therefore
can reduce costs while providing essential information about

Food manufacturers who need to remove soil from fresh pro-

the effectiveness of a cleaning program.

duce prior to processing or packaging have different needs to

Australasian Medical & Scientific Ltd

processed food manufacturers wanting to remove sticky residues

www.amsl.com.au

or food scraps from the conveyor.
Tecpro Australia
www.tecpro.com.au

Collaborative robot
The Universal Robots model UR10 is a versatile, user-friendly and safe collaborative-type
robot, suitable for pick-and-place operations in the food and beverage industry.
It can operate within a temperature range of 0–50°C, is IP54 rated, has a reach of
1300 mm, a positioning repeatability of 0.1 mm, and can lift a payload of 10 kg. The
robot can be mounted in any orientation, even upside down, only requires
a standard 240 V power outlet and weighs only 29 kg.
The UR10 can be set up to operate alongside people without any safety
guarding as all the safety features are built in to the robot and software.
Its footprint is 190 mm and the unit can easily be mounted on a trolley
to be totally portable.
The UR10 is suitable for palletising boxes of products, and with the built-in
configurable I/O, Modbus and ethernet capability, can be easily integrated into an existing product line or process. The UR10 is manufactured in Denmark and is claimed to run
maintenance-free for 35,000 hours.
Mobile Automation
www.mobileautomation.com.au

50

November/December 2016

www.foodprocessing.com.au

Belt-fed digital sorters
Key Technology has introduced VERYX belt-fed digital sorters, which
are customisable to suit varying product characteristics and production objectives.
The sorter is available in four widths. The B175 model
features a 1750 mm-wide inspection area suitable for mid- to highcapacity operations such as potato processors and food processors
sorting vegetables, fruits or other products.
For food processors requiring all-sided surface inspection, the sensors
can be arranged to achieve full view of each object in the product stream.

PROCESSING

High-resolution cameras and laser sensors detect and remove submillimetre
size defects and FM. The sorter can utilise up to four channels of information from
cameras and up to eight channels of information from the laser scanner, enhanced by LED
lighting that operates at the optimal frequencies in relation to each sensor.
The product separation/ejection system tailors the distance between nozzles and the power of the valves varying
for optimal management of the sort streams.
Richer product information and data processing architecture and intelligent software enables the system to make
robust sorting decisions and handle spikes in incoming defect loads.
Smart features — including auto-learning, self-adjustment algorithms, predictive system diagnostics, smart alarms,
FMAlert and Sort-to-Grade — enable the sorter to operate virtually unattended during normal production.
Recipe-driven operation and repeatable calibration enables consistent performance, including running the same
product across multiple sorters in different locations.
Product handling systems provide improved stabilisation of the product, creating a more consistent trajectory
through the inspection and ejection zones, and ensuring sorting accuracy.
Key Technology Australia Pty Ltd
www.keyww.com

Variable area flowmeter
Krohne has extended the available options for the H250 M40 flowmeter to suit the requirements of oil and gas applications, such
as flow measurement on injection skids for corrosion, scale and
hydrate inhibitors like methanol or
monoethylene glycol. Common areas
of application are also measuring
agents and solvents in gas treatment processes like sweetening and
dehydration of natural gas as well
as reliably monitoring small amounts
of nitrogen and fuel gas.
Standard materials for the range of
DN15…150 / ½…6″ flanged process
meters include NACE MR0175/MR0103 compliant 316L or materials
and welding following the NORSOK standard. Hastelloy, Monel, 6Mo,
titanium and now also Inconel are available as optional materials to
provide high corrosion resistance to any kind of fluid. Stainless steel
indicator housings and offshore protective coatings are available.
Flange connections reach up to ASME B16.5 Class 2500 flanges.
Higher pressure ratings can be realised when applying API flanges.
For hazardous gas and dust areas, H250 M40 has achieved more
than 30 approvals worldwide, including ATEX, IECEx, usFMc,
NEPSI, INMETRO, KGS, EAC and PESO/CCOE. For quality assurance, comprehensive tests and certifications are in place such as
positive material identification, material mill certificates, X-ray and

Emergency pressure relief vents
Emerson has introduced wirelessly monitored Enardo 2000
emergency pressure relief vents (EPRVs) that provide
safety control by managing abnormally high storage tank
pressures in the oil and gas, chemical, petrochemical and
pharmaceutical industries.
Under normal operating conditions, an
EPRV remains closed. The
immediate knowledge of an
should warrant quick investigation.
However, because EPRVs are located
on top of storage tanks, they are difficult to
monitor. Site managers are increasingly looking
for ways to increase safety and efficiencies.
The Enardo 2000 consists of a proximity
indicator and wireless transmitter integrated with
an EPRV. The proximity indicator senses movement
of the emergency vent — ‘open’ or ‘closed’ signals are
received by the wireless transmitter and can be sent to a
control room via a WirelessHART gateway.
Emerson Process Management Aust Pty Ltd
www.emersonprocess.com.au

www.foodprocessing.com.au

The Dynapumps vacuum booster
provides high pumping capacities and high vacuums. It is
a robust and energy-efficient
alternative to many pumping
methods.
A lobe-type booster unit can
be added at the inlet to dry
screw, rotary vane, rotary pis-

PROCESSING

open position can be vital and

Vacuum booster

ton or liquid ring vacuum to
produce a ‘2-stage’ vacuum
pump package.
Booster sets can be engineered to provide suction capacities of up to 10,000 m3/h and
vacuum levels of <10-4 mbar.
Lobe-type boosters offer all
the advantages of dry screw
pumps and are suitable for a
number of applications.
Dynapumps
www.dynapumps.com.au

November/December 2016

53

A South Australian company that reformulates wine industry waste
into value-add products is helping to drive Australia’s booming
craft spirits sector.

E

stablished in 1930, Barossa-based Tarac Technologies
is Australia’s largest producer of high-quality grape
spirit, which it sells back to the wine industry or
to beverage producers around the globe, including
more than 50 of Australia’s boutique distillers.
The company processes 40 million litres of distillation wine
and lees and more than 120,000 tonnes of grape marc at its
sites in Nuriootpa, Berri and Griffith, to ultimately produce
about 10 million litres of grape spirit a year.
CEO Jeremy Blanks said high-strength grape alcohol was
a core product across a number of styles, including neutral
grape spirit, brandy spirit, fortifying spirit, matured brandy
and industrial spirit.
He said the craft spirit industry in Australia was still very
small but it was growing fast, and Tarac offers these new
producers a cost-effective, high-quality base spirit.
“Grape spirit is not just grape spirit. If you’re using it for
a gin, for example, you need the highest grade,” he said. “If
you don’t have the very best quality, the flaws or the taints
will come through in your end products.”
Tarac currently exports up to 80% of its grape spirit primarily to North America and Europe, where much of it goes
into brandy and the wine industry.
One of the latest distillers to release a gin featuring Tarac
spirit is Barossa Distilling Company, which launched the
54

November/December 2016

wine region’s first craft gin in July. Born out of winery Soul
Growers, Barossa Distilling Company’s Generations Gin uses
Tarac grape spirit base made from marc recycled from local
wineries including Soul Growers.
Barossa Distilling Company Managing Director Neil Bullock
said being able to source high-quality grape spirit from the
region was an important part of the Generations Gin story.
He said up to 80% of Australian gin companies were using
Tarac spirit as a base.
Tarac uses a closed loop system where it is able to repurpose 90% of grape industry waste. It also produces grape juice
concentrate and processes solid residuals and filter cake to
make a range of products including tartaric acid, which is a
natural product from grapes used in the wine, food, pharmaceutical and chemical industries, as soil conditioner for broad
acre farming and as stock feed.
“By us managing the wine industry’s residuals we deal
with what would otherwise be a significant problem and an
expensive problem for the industry to deal with,” Blanks said.
“We also run a very large wastewater treatment facility next
to our production plant in the Barossa and that takes all of
our production wastewater and cleans it up and that comes
back to us for process water or is sold for irrigation.
Tarac Technologies
www.tarac.com.au

Digital valve controller software upgrade
Emerson has enhanced the software for its Fisher FIELDVUE DVC6200 digital valve
controllers, which are now available for use by process industries with PLCs and
PROFIBUS communications as the dominant protocol. The digital valve controller
with Device Type Manager (DTM) software supports control valve start-up, commissioning and diagnostic activities. It is also suitable for use with multiple Field
Device Tool (FDT) host systems.
Suitable for industries including food and beverage, water and wastewater,

PROCESSING

pharmaceutical, pulp and paper, and metals and mining, the instrument is
available in a variety of materials including stainless steel. The device comes
with mounting kits to accommodate different actuators and can be remotely
mounted for use in critical or hazardous areas, and in harsh process conditions such as high heat or vibration.
Features such as intuitive set-up, auto-calibration and simple tuning save time
during commissioning. The failsafe option enables users to set the instrument
to hold its last value or position to actuator fail, based on control valve process
needs. The device incorporates control logic, module assignment and linkage-less,
non-contact sensor technology.
Emerson Process Management Aust Pty Ltd
www.emersonprocess.com.au

Projekt1 28.09.16 08:41 Seite 1

www.foodprocessing.com.au

November/December 2016

55

PROCESSING

UV water
purification
system
with remote
monitoring
UV-Guard has released an
SMS module that will enable
the remote monitoring of UV
water purification systems.
The module sends status
alerts to maintenance staff or
facility operators via SMS. The
alerts include warnings of lamp failure, low UV intensity
readings, power failure, end of lamp life and system operation initialisation.
The SMS module is suitable for UV water treatment systems
located in hard-to-access areas like roofs, as well as on farms
and in mining and remote communities.
The module integrates into the company’s programmable
logic controller (PLC) and provides specific UV system status
descriptions so users know exactly what the issue is in real time.
UV-Guard Australia Pty Ltd
www.uvguard.com

Modular hygienic pipework system
JACOB’s modular pipework system offers extra security for hygienesensitive industries. All components offer food contact compliance with
European EC 1935/2004 regulations and American FDA guidelines. This
applies to the stainless steel pipe components and fittings as well as
for the sealing materials used. In addition, gaskets can be supplied
as metal detectable and also optically demonstrable.
The range, comprising more than 3000 products, can be ordered
through the company’s webshop, which offers features that will facilitate
the day-to-day work of buyers, project planners and plant engineers.
These include saving and maintaining project and order data, downloading functions for project-related 3D drawings and dimension sheets
and the option to allocate article numbers.
Additional innovations introduced by the company include a pipe
sound damper, which is easy to integrate in the pipework system’s
modular design as it allows the internal insulating material to be replaced during maintenance work and also offers customisation options.
NTR Engineers Pty Ltd
www.ntrengineers.com

56

November/December 2016

www.foodprocessing.com.au

Hybrid laser gas analyser
Emerson has released the Rosemount CT5100 continuous gas analyser,
a hybrid analyser that combines tunable diode laser (TDL) and quantum
cascade laser (QCL) measurement technologies for process gas analysis
and emissions monitoring.
The analyser can detect down to sub-ppm level for a range of components while simplifying operations and reducing costs. The device
can measure up to 12 critical component gases and potential pollutrequirements.

Filter nozzles
A large and flexible range of ILMAP filter noz-

The analyser operates with no consumables, no in-field enclosure and

zles is available to meet any specification.

a simplified sampling system that does not require any gas conditioning

The range is available in 22 different models,

to remove moisture. The device is suitable for process gas analysis,

eight standard stem lengths, eight types of

continuous emissions monitoring and ammonia slip applications.

thread and 10 different slot widths. The nozzles

The â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;laser chirpâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; technique expands gas analysis in both the near-and

are manufactured from a range of materials,

mid-infrared range, enhancing process

including stainless steel and polypropylene,

insight, improving overall gas analysis

as well as specialised formulations such as

sensitivity and selectivity, removing

glass-filled polypropylene, mineral-filled poly-

cross interference and reducing re-

propylene and polyvinylideneflouride (PVDF)

sponse time. The technique produces

to offer increased strength, durability and

sharp, well-defined peaks from high-

chemical resistance.

resolution spectroscopy that enable

The filter nozzles are precision-made and

specificity of identified components

feature reliable dimensional accuracy of slot

with minimum interference and without

sizes, which prevents the passage of particles.

filtration, reference cells or chemometric
manipulations.

PROCESSING

ants simultaneously within a single system in order to meet regulatory

elgian researchers have found that yeasts used for
beer and winemaking were domesticated in the 16th
century, around 100 years before the discovery of
microbes. The researchers have describe a family
tree of these microbes, with the resulting genetic relationships
also revealing clues as to who the earliest beer brewers were
and how humans have shaped the organism’s development.
Teams from VIB, KU Leuven and Ghent University analysed
the genomes and fermentation characteristics of more than
150 industrial yeasts used to produce different beers, wines
and bread. The results show that the hundreds of beer and
wine yeasts available today are the result of the actions of
the brewers and winemakers from history.

Art becomes science
“The flavour of the beer we drink largely depends on yeast,”
explained Kevin Verstrepen, a yeast geneticist at the University
of Leuven and VIB. “We’re drinking the best beers now because
ancient brewers were smart enough to start breeding yeast before
they knew what they were doing. It was really an art.”
Verstrepen explained that ancient brewers, winemakers and
bakers often practised ‘backslopping’, a technique where a small
part of a previous well-fermented dough or brew was kept apart
to mix it with a new batch, to make the fermentation process
quicker and more consistent. Without realising what they were

doing exactly, these ancient craftsmen were effectively selecting
and transferring yeast cultures from one batch to the next, allowing the microbes to continuously grow and adapt to man-made
industrial environments.

Why wine is ‘wilder’ than beer
Fascinatingly, beer yeasts show stronger signs of domestication
than wine yeasts, most likely because they happily lived in the
brewery throughout the year and lost all contact with their feral
family members. While wine yeasts share their origins with beer
yeasts, they show fewer signs of domestication, probably because
wine yeasts are only used to ferment grape juice once a year,
and survive in and around the winery for the rest of the year,
where they may interbreed with feral yeasts.
In order to study a large variety of beers and yeasts, the Belgian team joined forces with White Labs, an American company
that specialises in selling different yeasts to craft brewers. The
scientists found that yeast strains were selected to provide beers
with desired industrial characteristics.
Bioinformatics team leader Steven Maere from VIB-UGent
said: “The consequences of four centuries of domestication were
very clear in the DNA of industrial yeasts.”
In particular, the researchers found evidence for amplification of genes involved in metabolising typical beer sugars and
selection against production of 4VG, an undesirable flavour
compound produced by most natural yeasts.

Tracing the family tree

Credit: Gallone and Steensels et al./Cell 2016

This graph represents the history and domestication of yeast
used for making beer and other types of alcohol are revealed
through genomic and phenotypic analyses.
58

November/December 2016

According to the analysis, the industrial yeast used today came
from only a few ancestral strains. Five large groups separated out
genetically, with strains mainly clustered together according to
their industrial purpose. Geographic boundaries further divided
each category: in one grouping of beer yeast, for example, the
strains from Belgium and Germany were closely related, but
separate from those in the UK and US.
The new study could allow the breeding of even better yeast
variants. The scientists are using the genome sequences to select
hybrids that combine beneficial DNA regions from several existing beer and wine yeasts.
“Mapping out the genome structure of yeasts in food or drinks
allows us to better understand the mechanics and applications
of yeasts. As a result, it opens up new possibilities to breed
yeasts to enhance flavours, aromas or conservation techniques,”
said Kevin Verstrepen.
The results are published in the scientific journal Cell.

www.foodprocessing.com.au

UNIVERSAL ROBOTS

RANGE OF
F COLLABORATIVE
A
ROBOTS ARE THE MOST VERSATILE,
A
SAFE AND
D USER FRIENDLY
LY ON THE MARKET
With incredible
edible precision, payloads
g, and powerful software,
up to 10 kg,
the applications
ations for these robots is
only limited
ed by your imagination.

Universal Robots have “built-in” safety features and are TÜV
certified to operatee right alongside people. In 80% of
applications no expensive
exxpensive safety fences are required*,
required*,
saving valuable floor
flooor space.
The strong partnership
partneership between Auto Control Systems and
Mobile Automationn means we can offer
offfer a solution wherever
your factory is located.
located.
“From the East to the West we have your collaborative
robot solutions covered.”
*Pending safety assessment

Inductive angle sensors for rotary actuators
Turck has released two extensions of its inductive angle sensors for rotary
actuators. The products provide users with a rotary valve sensing solution
suitable for harsh environments. The RI360P1-DSU35-ELIU5X2-B1150/S1265
is available with a stainless steel Minifast connector, and the RI360P1-DSU35TCELI-EXI is available with ATEX and IECEx approvals.
Utilising the inductive resonant circuit measuring principle and introducing an open face

PROCESSING

sensor design for rotary valve sensing, the RI360-DSU delivers analog or discrete outputs with
flexible mounting options.
The inductive angle sensors are able to monitor quarter-turn valves and three-way valves,
while detecting the valve position during cleaning cycles. Additionally, the sensors are capable
of detecting the wear of seals, saving downtime from seals that are worn from switching cycles.
For flexible operation, the sensors are available with switching or analog outputs.
Featuring a protection rating of IP67 and a rugged, compact housing design, the sensors provide a
wear-free sensing solution in harsh applications, in temperatures ranging from -25 to +75°C, making
them suitable for a wide range of applications, including valve automation, steering position feedback
and dancer arm control.
Turck Australia Pty Ltd
www.turck.com.au

Sanitising system
The Giselle system from De Nora Next produces
a sodium hypochlorite sanitising solution called
Soleva on-site and on demand using only salt, tap
water and electricity.
The system is suitable for hygienically cleaning
a wide range of locations and objects, including
removing blood and urine from ceramic and steel.
De Nora Water Technologies
www.denora.com

Asset health app
Emerson’s ATG View application allows easy access to critical asset
health information by putting data from Emerson’s CSI 6500 ATG
machinery protection and prediction monitoring system in the palm
of users’ hands via a mobile device.
Users can scan a QR code located on the cabinet and immediately
view the status and health of all cards and measurements from the
associated rack on their mobile device. This enables quicker maintenance rounds and reduces unnecessary trips to the control room,
helping maintenance teams be more productive and responsive to
changes in equipment health.
The app is built to be intuitive and easy for users to get started
quickly. It is available in both the Apple Store and Google Play.
Emerson Process Management Aust P/L
www.emersonprocess.com.au
60

November/December 2016

www.foodprocessing.com.au

Air monitoring system
KEMPERâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s AirWatch sensor technology verifies the presence of dust
in production, determining and documenting the number and weight
of nanoparticles and then analysing it with smartphone, tablet or
PC and comparing it to limit values. A traffic light display visualises
permanently the status of air quality.
The system is suitable for production facilities, warehouses and

PROCESSING

logistics halls. The system measures fine dust particles in a radius
of up to 30 m using a laser-powered sensor. An integrated fan
draws in ambient air.
Individual limit values can be saved for hazardous substances,
and the system saves the data across a long time period. A trend
display for day, week, month or year also allows companies to analyse
concentration of hazardous substances in more detail.
The sensor captures particles in the range of 100 nm up to 16Â Âľm.
This includes the fine dust categories PM2.5 for alveolar common
dust (A dust) and PM10 for all inhalable dusts (E dust) as defined
by WHO. The system automatically classifies the captured particles
accordingly, as well as monitoring the effectiveness of ventilation
measures.
SMENCO Pty Ltd
www.smenco.com.au

Snacking has become a way of life for consumers across the globe, with the category posting an impressive 9%
value growth in 2015. Although traditional snacks continue to generate the greatest overall revenue, the health snack
food production industry in Australia has grown at a rapid pace over the past five years, increasing by an average
of 3% each year. Snack manufacturers are catering to this demand by incorporating alternative ingredients and raw
materials. In line with this, fruit- and vegetable-based snacks are on the rise, as banana, kiwi, kale and coconut
chips become increasingly popular amongst consumers.

Healthier fats for healthier snacks
Oil or fat is a key ingredient in most snack food production
lines. Although the fats and/or oils that are absorbed by the
raw material during the frying process provide the product
with a unique taste and texture, limiting the absorption of
unhealthy fats is vital for food manufacturers aiming to appeal to health-conscious consumers. Selecting the right type
of oil is therefore essential.
From canola, sunflower and olive oil, to coconut and corn
oil, manufacturers are inundated with choice. However, there
are several considerations for snack manufacturers switching to healthier oils. Some types of oil create less harmful
compounds but are not as stable at the heating stage, such
as sunflower oil. This means they produce high levels of free
radicals when they are heated, thus reducing the nutritional
properties of the end product.
When an oil is less stable, shelf stability also becomes
a significant concern. Oils that are rich in essential fatty
acids and other polyunsaturated fats are the most fragile
of oils. Because their longevity is generally shorter, snacks
processed in healthier oils can become less stable over
time. Furthermore, these generally cost more,
due to their nutritional value and
provenance. This means producers must find other ways to
reduce spend, as well as increase
total profits and production volumes.

In most frying operations, the fatty acid level of the cooking
oil will rise to an unacceptable level if the total volume of
oil in the system cannot be turned over within a set time,
resulting in inconsistencies in flavour and off-flavours. The
most innovative frying technologies incorporate continuous
filtration systems to help remove particulate material from
the fryer during cooking. Typically, the oil is passed through
a filtering system to remove both large and fine particles.
The filtered oil is then blended with fresh oil and pumped
back into the machine to return oil levels to the optimum
level. An efficient oil turnover is critical in ensuring the
product is cooked in the freshest oil, keeping free fatty acid
levels to a minimum.
An evaluation of the oil management can help manufacturers identify opportunities to optimise their overall frying
system. This includes regular maintenance of frying equipment, with emphasis placed on temperature controls, heating
and heat transfer surfaces. Regular sanitation checks are also
vital to ensure all food contact points are free of build-up.
As such, they are able to produce cost-effective snacks that
not only look and taste great but which are “better for you”
with prolonged shelf life and superior flavours. In addition,
more and more manufacturers are turning towards advanced
pre-processing as well as innovative frying technologies to
minimise the challenges related to oil degradation.

Innovative frying technologies
Creativity is key in today’s snack industry. While there have
been significant advancements in filtration technology, manufacturers also continue to look for new and innovative ways
to fry their products. As a result, multistage frying, vacuum
frying and batch frying are all increasingly used as methods
for the creation of healthier snack products.
Multistage frying — also referred to as two-stage frying
— is divided into two stages, atmospheric prefrying and vacuum frying. Initially,
the product is fried at a high temperature for a short amount of time
to remove enzymes and sugars.
The process is then completed at
a lower temperature in a vacuum
fryer. At this temperature, acrylamide
formation is reduced, ensuring a
safer, healthier end product.
The solution is ideal for producing regular potato and vegetable
chips, including organic varieties,
and is compatible with a variety
of oil types. Thanks to a much
gentler process, the end product
upholds the natural qualities of the raw
material, including nutritional value, natural taste

www.foodprocessing.com.au

November/December 2016

63

PROCESSING

A

s the trend towards ‘better-for-you’ products gains
momentum, the demand for food that is readily
available, tastes great and exhibits a desirable
colour and texture remains high. As part of this,
consumers look for foods that are ‘safer’ and have reduced
fat content. Consequently, reducing fat absorption, preventing
oil degradation and avoiding the formation of harmful chemicals, such as acrylamides, have become a priority for snack
manufacturers. And with tightening government legislation
calling for controlled levels of harmful fats and acrylamide
in processed food, more and more manufacturers are reviewing their current processing methods. This is leading to an
increased level of innovation, including pre-processing and
frying innovations, as well as new product development
(NPD) across the snack industry to address these demands
and provide multiple benefits to consumers. Selecting the
right ingredients and using cutting-edge manufacturing
technologies can help snack producers benefit from these
growing opportunities and maximise their growth potential.

Gu

PROCESSING

... reducing fat absorption, preventing oil
degradation and avoiding the formation of harmful
chemicals, such as acrylamides, have become a priority
for snack manufacturers.

and colour, without the need for additives or colourants. At
the same time, the process gives enough control to prevent
discolouring such as browning or caramelisation. As a result,
manufacturers are able to produce snacks with a distinctive
taste and enhanced visual appeal.
Unlike multistage frying, vacuum frying continuously cooks
products under a low temperature and low pressure conditions
from start to finish. At these low temperatures, the degradation of the product’s surface structure is reduced, lowering
the amount of oil absorbed and therefore enabling significant
fat reduction with minimal impact on product quality. The
low temperatures and the lack of oxygen present in the system also make it possible to use high-quality, zero trans-fat
oil varieties leading to a longer shelf life and cost savings.
Vacuum frying systems are ideal for producing chips from
fruit and vegetables that are high in natural sugars, such as
parsnips, beets, carrots, apples, kiwifruit or mango, since
temperature-related reactions, such as acrylamide formation,
are slowed down significantly and in some cases do not occur. This allows producers to meet consumer trends
for healthier and low-fat products with positive
organoleptic properties.
Batch frying systems equally help snack
manufacturers to make the most of the healthy
snacking trend. Frying at a temperature
helps to seal the outside cells of the
product, preventing oil absorption. This
reduces oil uptake, allowing manufacturers
to market their products as “reduced
fat”. Batch frying also minimises
acrylamide formation, maintains the
desired crunchy texture and minimises
colour formation and caramelisation.

Advanced pre-processing techniques
While optimising the frying process is
key to improve the healthfulness of
snack products, there are also a
number of pre-processing techniques
manufacturers can adapt. One the
most innovative solutions, which
has emerged has a promising nonthermal alternative, is pulsed electric
field (PEF) technology.

Partnering with an expert
Over recent years, the demand for healthier snack products
has reshaped the way manufacturers process food. While
this offers an array of opportunities, manufacturers are
also faced with the challenge to produce
healthier foods while still maintaining a
profitable process.
In a world where innovation is key to
success, the industry recognises the need
for advanced pre-processing and frying
technologies to help food producers cater
to these challenges. As such, it is
important to work with a supplier that has the technological
expertise and know-how to find
the right solutions to fit individual
production requirements. Partnering
with a leading processing solutions
supplier like Florigo (from tna) gives
food manufacturers the ability to do just
that and ultimately stand out from the
competition in this dynamic and constantly evolving market.
tna solutions Pty Ltd
www.tnasolutions.com

.adobe
.com/a
u

/Mario

64

PEF systems work by using pulses of electricity to puncture
cell membranes and allow fluid to exit. As a result, sugar
and moisture are removed, resulting in reduced acrylamide
formation during cooking. It also allows the use of all potato
varieties, including those with high sugar levels/late season
potatoes. Chip manufacturers are therefore able to decrease
raw material costs while increasing product quality, as well
as profitability.
As a non-thermal method, the product also remains raw
throughout before further processing, maintaining its structure
for improved texture and crispiness. At the same time, PEF
treatment improves cutting, thanks to a smoother surface,
offering manufacturers the possibility of developing new
cuts and shapes. As well as helping manufacturers to create a crispier product, it also allows them to diversify their
range, facilitating ongoing product innovation and providing
consumers with the choice they’re asking for.
In addition, PEF treatment has a direct impact on oil
uptake by food, including chips, thanks to improved cut
smoothness. The perfectly smooth surface of a PEF-treated
slice, with smaller, intact cells, inhibits excessive oil uptake
while maintaining crispiness. This allows for the production
of natural, low-fat snacks, as well as delivering the texture
consumers desire. Other benefits include improved appearance of the end product, reduced frying time and a clean
and energy-efficient process.

Caran
gi

www.foodprocessing.com.au

PROCESSING

Fibre laser cutter keeps Jmar Engineering on track

Founded by Mark and Janice Hooper 22 years ago, Jmar
Engineering in Shepparton, Victoria, specialises in component
manufacturing and repairs across a broad range of industries
including those associated with conveyor and package
handling equipment.
Nearly all Jmar’s business comes from around the Goulburn
Valley area within a 50 km radius of Shepparton, but ongoing
diversification has seen the company achieve steady growth
and increase its customer base since inception.
For example, the company now undertakes a considerable
amount of ‘reverse engineering’ by fabricating many
components and parts that clients may have previously bought
from overseas suppliers.
The company is a long-time supplier of a product called
the Christopher Dairy Bails — a retrofit product suitable for
herringbone dairies that allows the farmer to feed in the bail
at milking time.
In 2015 Mark spotted an opportunity to invest in a laser
cutter to further grow his business and enhance the quality
of the end product.
After further research a fibre laser cutter appeared to be the
best choice due to a number of significant benefits including
extreme accuracy and speed and consistency of cut, coupled
with low operating costs.

66

November/December 2016

Mark briefed Applied Machinery to supply him with a
machine that would meet both his performance criteria and
budget restrictions. He became Applied’s inaugural fibre laser
cutter customer with the supply and installation of a Hans GS
LFD-3015 1 kW Fiber Laser Cutting System.
“The new Hans fibre laser installed in late February is
already paying huge dividends for us. Not only is it improving
productivity and quality of our finished products, but it has also
opened up new market opportunities,” Mark said.
“We’re seeing work that we would never have seen and
quoting on jobs that we have previously not been able to
quote on — the Hans fibre laser is really helping to expand
our business.
Another benefit of the new machine is that the quality of the
finished product coming out of the company’s Yawei pressbrake
is now far superior, due to the huge increase in quality of the
prebend parts from the fibre laser compared to their plasma.
“This new fibre laser is completely in keeping with the
ethos of Jmar Engineering. It not only allows us to produce the
highest quality components in a faster time, but also provides
us with the opportunity to add to the diversity of products we
produce,” concluded Mark.
Applied Machinery Australia Pty Ltd
www.appliedmachinery.com.au

Nuts, grains, spices and seeds were once
considered low risk from a food safety
perspective. As they had a low moisture
content it was assumed they would not
support microbial growth, but Salmonella can
survive on nuts and E.coli in non-heat-treated flour.
Making matters worse, both Salmonella and E. coli
are pathogenic at such low doses that sampling and testing
cannot guarantee that products are not contaminated.

I

n the current massive General Mills flour recall in the US,
E. coli O121 and O26 contamination has resulted in 46
people being infected and 13 hospitalisations. Thousands
of tonnes of flour have been recalled. The general recommendation now is that food processors should consider the use
of pasteurised flour in ready-to-cook or ready-to-bake foods that
are likely to be consumed without cooking or baking.
In 2001 and 2004 outbreaks of foodborne disease caused
by Salmonella-contaminated almonds in the US resulted in a
USDA requirement that all raw, blanched and roasted almonds
be treated to achieve a 4-log reduction in Salmonella.
The Almond Board of California’s Technical Expert Review
Panel (TERP) has now validated a number of pasteurisation
systems, many of which claim to retain the flavour, mouthfeel
and nutrition of raw seeds and grains.
68

Wholegrain, nut and seed consumers want minimally
processed products and so some newer technologies are now
coming to the fore.
With an even more benign image than steam and vacuum,
ultraviolet light-based technologies are emerging. UV
technologies in combination with other microbial
interventions remain experimental as a pasteurisation solution, but validated lethality exists from
radio waves and ionising radiation.
The Almond Board of California (ABC) has
approved a non-roasting bulk pasteurisation
process for raw almonds at Sran Family
Orchards, a producer of organic and
conventional almonds.
The ABC’s Technical Expert Review Panel (TERP) has certified RF
Biocidics’ APEX 85 chemical-free,
pasteurisation system that uses radiofrequency technology to significantly reduce the level of harmful
pathogens in raw almonds.
Interestingly, there are three
exceptions to the raw almond pasteurisation mandate — exported US
almonds do not have to be pasteurised
(except if they are going to Canada or
Mexico), farmers can sell 45 kg bags of
almonds and, most surprising, imports
of raw almonds are not required to be
treated before sale in the US.

of the Stainless Steel Super Air Knife by including all
of the appropriate fittings and tube for hooking up to
a compressed air supply, eliminating poor performance
attributed to undersized fittings and compressed air supply lines. The plumbing kits can be fully assembled and
installed on an air knife at the factory to further reduce
unproductive time and effort.
Air knives that are 24″ or longer must be supplied
with compressed air at multiple inlets on the knife. The
plumbing kits eliminate time wasted searching for the right
fittings and enable users to achieve peak performance
with the confidence of proper installation.
Plumbing kits include cut-to-length type 316 stainless
steel pipe and fittings, in lengths ranging from 24 to 108″.
Compressed Air Australia Pty Ltd
www.caasafety.com.au

Almonds in Australia
The following has been taken directly from
the Almond Board of Australia website:
Food safety is a top priority for the Almond
Board of Australia as we want our consumers to
have an enjoyable eating experience every time almonds are snacked on or cooked with. However, natural
or raw almonds, as with other raw products such as fruit and
vegetables, do have a small inherent risk of contamination.
All Australian almond industry processors maintain high
standards of Quality Assurance, including HACCP and Safe
Quality Foods (SQF2000) accreditation. Facilities are regularly
audited to ensure they meet or exceed food safety standards.
In addition to extensive internal testing, all almond products
are rigorously tested for both quality and food safety by third
party laboratories accredited by the National Association of
Testing Authorities Australia. Despite this on rare occasions
it has been necessary to recall product.
To minimise bacterial risk, almond processors within Australia are progressing with plans to offer customers pasteurised
almonds. Foods such as milk, juice, eggs and canned foods
are also pasteurised, and pasteurisation has been proven to
reduce the presence of harmful bacteria such as Salmonella.
US research shows that commercial pasteurisation processes
used for raw almonds do not impact on the taste, quality or
nutritional value of natural almonds.
Roasting is a recognised way of pasteurising food products,
and almonds are no exception.

NSF H1 compliant grease
Schaeffler Australia has introduced FAG Arcanol FOOD2
grease, a range of rolling bearing grease for the food
and beverage industry that is designed to be softer,
sturdier, more energy saving and produce less friction
than other lubricants.
The grease is fully NSF H1 compliant, which means it
has been certified by the National Sanitation Foundation
(NSF) as acceptable for incidental food contact and can
be used in food processing areas.
The grease also copes with high stresses and ambient
conditions, as well as being kosher and halal certified for
food preparation areas that have these requirements —
which extend beyond the food to include the machinery
and environment where they are produced.
The grease maintains its fluidity in cold environments,
as low as -30°C. It is suitable for a range of applications,
including filling plants, sealing machines, meat and fish
processing machines, and freezing plants.
Schaeffler Australia Pty Ltd
www.schaeffler.com.au

www.foodprocessing.com.au

November/December 2016

69

Magnetic separator
Goudsmit Magnetics Group’s Hydrohansu-type rotating clean flow magnet is suitable for
the removal of very fine iron (Fe), AISI 304 and 316L particles in the dairy industry and for
products such as baby food. It is also suitable for use in the sugar and lactose industries.
Rotating magnets prevent the accumulation of fatty powders on the magnetic bars and
provide a high level of separation.
The single-piece, hydroformed housing is made entirely of grade 316 stainless steel and
therefore has no dead ends, sharp corners or welded seams, which prevents bacterial growth.

PROCESSING

The complete system has a high-quality surface finish (Ra ≤0.6 µm). The magnet rotor
has pneumatically operated magnet bars, is mounted in the door and rotates on a bearing.
To prevent product from entering the space between the rotor and the housing, it is fitted
with a removable labyrinth airlock. A continuous, clean stream of air (+0.2 bar) feeds that
airlock and blows from the inside towards the product chute. The use of rotating pneumatic
magnet bars ensures that the powerful magnetic value (11,500 G) is in direct contact with
the product.
The semiautomatic cleaning process can be performed during a production stop. After
the rotor is released and pulled out manually, compressed air internally shifts the magnet
packs to the cleaning position. This provides a quick, easy and safe cleaning method in
which the metal particles are carried away. Sensors ensure that all these steps can only be
performed in the correct order.
Goudsmit Magnetic Systems BV
www.goudsmit-magnetics.nl

SPX FLOW helps brewery achieve expansion
through efficiency
to 3–4 weeks. This improvement
in productivity meant that annual
capacity could be increased to meet
growing market demands without
investment in additional tanks.
Seital centrifuges are designed
with highly efficient gear or belt
drive transmissions, continuous
vibration monitoring and automatic
solids discharge to offer reliability
with long maintenance intervals.
Precise control and adjustment of
the machine is provided through an
intuitive operator interface to ensure
the process is providing the right
product characteristics.
Pietro di Pilato, one of the owners of the Brewfist
company, commented, “We are very satisfied with the Seital
clarifier. It is very user friendly and I like the taste of the
beer after it has gone through the centrifuge. The machine
has worked for 750 hours without requiring maintenance.”
Seital units are designed to maintain hygienic conditions
and offer gentle processing to ensure favourable product
characteristics are preserved and consistent, reliable
production is achieved.

PROCESSING

Italian brewer Brewfist had some
clear processing goals when it looked
to expand production capacity at its
brewhouse near Milan, Italy, to meet
growing market demand.
These included ensuring that
oxygen pickup between the end of the
fermentation process and bottle filling
was no greater than 30 ppb, reducing
process time and ensuring consistent
quality without making the beer too
‘yeasty’.
To assist Brewfist in meeting
its production goals, SPX FLOW’s
Seital Separation Technology brand
recommended a Seital clarifier with
a hermetic mechanical seal designed to minimise the risk
of oxidation. Hydraulic seal machines had previously been
tested but did not meet Brewfist’s requirements to limit
oxygen pickup, while the Seital technology went beyond
original requirements, producing oxygen pickup of less
than 10 ppb. This performance resulted in high levels of
consistency in product clarity and lower yeast content.
SPX FLOW Seital clarifiers use vertical disk stack
centrifuge technology. The units’ efficiency meant that
production time for fermentation at Brewfist could be
reduced from 16 to 11 days and maturation time from 6 weeks

SPX Flow Inc
www.spxflow.com/au

www.foodprocessing.com.au

November/December 2016

71

PROCESSING

5S hygiene
management
program

sort
set
shine
standardise
sustain

Wells Hygiene has developed a comprehensive, fully customisable 5S shadow board system
to support hygiene management, colour coding and GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice)
in the food and beverage industry.

T

he 5S management system ensures efficiency, consistency and safety in fast-paced manufacturing facilities.
Originally derived from Japanese ‘six sigma’ practices,
each ‘S’ in the 5S program has an important meaning and objective:
1. Sort: Clearing up workplaces, keeping only what is needed.
It is not about having a lot of equipment but having the
right equipment.
2. Set in order: Organise, identify and arrange everything in
the workplace. Develop storage systems and processes to
assist this.
3. Shine: Regularly clean and maintain your equipment and
work environment. This promotes responsibility and efficiency.
4. Standardise: Make sure everyone is doing the same thing
in the same way. Develop SOPs to ensure consistency,
which helps ensure the best outcomes on a regular basis.

72

November/December 2016

5. Sustain: Ensure adherence to the system to maintain a safe
and efficient workplace. Put in place a review and assessment
process to ensure the system is working and sustainable.
Wells has available a range of signage and storage systems
to make it simple to implement 5S in workplaces. They can
even develop shadow board storage systems for tools and
machine parts and also have extensive experience in implementing ‘best practice’ with colour-coded cleaning equipment.
Wells has developed a large library of images and can
custom configure a heavy-duty shadow board to exact needs,
including wording, colours, products and any other important
instructional notes. The process is simple and begins with
an obligation-free site hygiene 5S survey. From this a report
is generated and suggestions offered on best practice and
implementation.
WR&D Wells Pty Ltd
www.wrdwells.com

Scaling
up
How SMEs can grow into larger
BULK HANDLING, STORAGE & LOGISTICS

food manufacturing facilities

Peter Taitoko*

For small- and mid-sized food manufacturers, one of the biggest challenges is how to start scaling up operations.
Today there is an endless amount of information available but interpreting this and making the best choices
for your business is not simple.

T

here are plenty of opportunities today for Australia’s
small- to mid-tier food manufacturers, especially
for companies that are agile and manufacture highquality products. However, the entrepreneurial spirit
that saw owners start businesses can easily be replaced with
uncertainty as organic growth leads to the need to scale
up. Lack of knowledge about how to scale up is frequently
the main obstacle to growth. The initial entrepreneurial
‘nothing-to-lose attitude’ makes way for a defensive risk
management strategy and while in the food industry this
is critical, it doesn’t need to stand in the way of growing
businesses safely and even improving risk management
along the way.
Scaling up can start by simply optimising and sweating
your current assets or adding a shift or two, but as demand
continues to build along with operational costs then the
options start narrowing towards the need for a larger, newer
74

November/December 2016

facility. Often manufacturers at this stage become almost
paralysed by the challenges: “What do I do now, how much
will it cost and how long will it take?”

Control scale-up for great results
If there is good news then it is this: the transition, when
planned properly, can lead to an extremely controlled
scale-up with great results. The strategy must be planned
with precision yet the execution must allow for flexibility
along the way as demand changes course.
The more you can define where you want to drive growth
for your business and define your target market, the easier
it will be to gain direction. It’s important to be clear up
front what controls and regulatory requirements need to
be in place from your existing and future customers and
collaborate closely with their quality teams to ensure that
you are designing food-safe facilities and processes.

www.foodprocessing.com.au

Concrete slab pour at brownfield site.

One important thing to keep in mind is that the food safety
auditors are unlikely to accept â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;unfavourable practicesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; in
your current facility to continue in a newly designed facility.
When reviewing expansion options, you may be lucky
enough to already have enough room in your factory or on
your site to expand into. If not, the next best option is to
find an existing site with the building in place (often referred
to as a brownfield site) as typically this will be a lower cost
option, even if you need to completely strip out the existing fit-out and flooring to renovate. If finance allows, then a
new site and new building (referred to as a greenfield site)
can give you the best long-term results and allows a blank
canvas approach.

Design fit for purpose
Probably the biggest challenge for manufacturers when scaling
up is working out where the capital should be spent.

Consider the following practical ideas for your facility
upgrade:
1. Sub-floor works such as drainage must be well designed
and should not be compromised. Consider the impact of
high-care rooms and the integration of drainage. A high-care
room may not be required today but future opportunities
or changes in food safety standards can lead to issues
with unsuitable drainage plans in the future.
2. The drain points and floor slopes must be designed accurately to prevent water pooling. Ensure that the drain
points are well positioned around equipment. Strip or
trench drains should be avoided as they provide a greater
risk of microbial growth problems. Some retailer standards
will not allow these types of drains in some rooms. If the
floor slopes are correctly designed and installed you should
not have any water pooling concerns with point drains.
3. Ensure that walls and ceilings comply with food safety
requirements as well as fire codes. Consider using FM
approved fire-rated wall and ceiling panels.
4.
Consider ventilation, room pressures and temperatures.
Navigating through the food safety requirements for HVAC
is difficult and an area where you should most certainly
seek advice from industry experts.
Process
The process and packing lines are often the starting point for
manufacturers when starting to evaluate options for scaling
up operations. This can be a daunting task as competing
suppliers can often provide solutions without seeking enough

www.foodprocessing.com.au

November/December 2016

75

BULK HANDLING, STORAGE & LOGISTICS

Factory
For the facility, thankfully there are not too many options
to confuse you with when choosing drainage, flooring, internal walls and ceiling materials, doors and lighting. It is
critical that the materials and installation all comply with
current food safety standards and are installed by industry
experts that can demonstrate excellent track records specifically within the food industry. When designed and executed
properly, your new facility will be of a world-class standard
and export ready.

BULK HANDLING, STORAGE & LOGISTICS

Consider the following when designing your processes:
1.
D evelop a plant layout incorporating future lines and
design from an operator’s perspective of how the factory
will be controlled safely.
2. Design for hygiene — ensure that all equipment and rooms
can be easily cleaned. Involve your quality managers early
in the project.
3.
Consider allergen control and elimination of cross-contamination from warehousing to processing and filling.
4.
Automate where practicable to reduce labour costs and
waste. Integrating key equipment and ancillary equipment
will also minimise unnecessary line stoppages.

Retort factory.

detail about the project, and that can lead you into a state
of confusion with the direction you need to take.
Firstly, develop a plant layout that reflects your long-term
‘wish list’. This will help to futureproof your factory footprint.
Then determine which equipment is going to give you the
best investment return at start-up and which equipment is
the hardest to acquire quickly if demand exceeds your post
start-up forecast (and it often does!).
Typically, these items are one and the same and may
be high-speed filling machines or a spiral chiller or even
retorts. Automated packing lines tend to be more modular
and easier to add on later when cashflow allows, but you
also need to understand how you will redeploy or scale up
your workforce at start-up if considering this type of option.
Again, ask for examples, videos and referrals from suppliers
when discussing process and packaging options. Remember
that there are some great local equipment manufacturers in
Australasia but one supplier alone does not usually have the
silver bullet solution for your entire process and packaging
requirements.
Process automation
One of the best decisions that you can make when scaling
up your facility will be to automate tasks throughout your
plant to guarantee repeatable, accurate and efficient processing. Properly executed process control allows your operators
to focus on high-value dynamic tasks that require flexibility.
Automation can provide some of the best returns for your
business as it can significantly reduce labour costs as well
as facilitate simple scaling up of processes and services for
the future.
76

November/December 2016

Services and infrastructure
Factory and process services must be designed with further
scale-up in mind so try to establish what additional capacity will be required in the future. It is worth investing a bit
more up front as modifying and upgrading services once the
facility is operational will be far more costly and time consuming, especially for services such as steam or gas supply.
Consider the following when evaluating a potential site:
1. Check that there is enough power to service the new site
with growth in mind. The upgrade or replacement of a
substation can be the longest lead time item on the project so it’s important to establish the requirements early.
2. Check the gas supply to the site. If one or more new boilers
are to be installed then it is important to check that the
gas meter and gas line into the site are adequately sized.
3. Check that the town water supply and line sizes are adequate. Upgrades are normally inexpensive and can be
carried out relatively quickly.
4.
Engage a town planning consultant to check that your
plans will meet the planning conditions.
Financial and resource assistance
There are a number of government and private sector groups
that will review your project, conduct a business health
check and provide assistance by way of grants for items such
as consulting fees, equipment purchase, loans for working
capital and resources to advise on business matters such as
scaling up, marketing and exporting. It is well worth exploring all of these options.
So finally, if you are considering expanding or upgrading
your manufacturing facility, remember that it doesn’t need
to be a long stressful journey. Plan for the long term and
plan for success. Once you have a visual plan and financial
strategy on the table then seek help from industry experts
to execute your plan.
The right advice up front will allow scaling up to happen quickly, cost-effectively and safely, and make it a highly
successful and rewarding journey!
*Peter Taitoko is General Manager at RMR Process. The
company designs and builds food manufacturing facilities
and processes for SME food manufacturers transitioning
through scale-up — from facility and process design through
to validation, training and ongoing facility support. Go to
www.rmrprocess.com and contact them to arrange a tour
through one of their newly built facilities.
RMR Process Pty Ltd
www.rmrprocess.com.au

www.foodprocessing.com.au

Wide-inlet bulk bag filler
The Wide-Inlet Bulk Bag Filler from Flexicon allows rapid filling and passage of large,
moist or dense chunks and semisolid materials into open or duffle-top bulk bags.
The unit features powered height adjustment of the cantilevered fill head to accommodate all popular bag heights, pneumatically adjustable bag hooks, a roller
conveyor, automated vibratory densification/deaeration deck and load cells with
automated controls.
Material passes through a hopper equipped with a slide gate valve positioned
above the filler, and through the fillerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s inlet chute that tapers from 660 to 508 mm2

BULK HANDLING, STORAGE & LOGISTICS

before discharging into an open-top bulk bag.
A vibratory deaeration deck activated at timed intervals during the filling cycle
densifies the bulk material, stabilising the bag.
When load cells signal that the bag is approaching target weight, a controller shuts the slide gate valve, releases the bag straps and activates a
powered roller conveyor to remove the filled bulk bag from the filling area.
Constructed of carbon steel with a durable industrial finish, the system is
suitable for sludge-like materials, disparate-sized scrap, mulch, stone, coal,
wood pellets and other bulk material containing pieces, chunks, agglomerates, clumps and other materials too large or non-free-flowing for conventional bulk bags and fillers. The unit is also
available in stainless steel for filling of potatoes, cassavas, turnips and similarly sized crops.
The company also offers Twin-Centrepost bulk bag fillers for low-volume, low-cost filling applications and Swing-Down
bulk bag fillers that lower and pivot the fill head to the operator at floor level for safe, rapid bag connections.
Flexicon Corporation (Aust) Pty Ltd
www.flexicon.com.au

during freezing
People often ask themselves about the changes of texture in IQF fruits and vegetables and whether the freezing
process means a loss in nutrients. Questions like these can be answered only by studying the effect of freezing
on various plant tissues.

A

s you may know, most fruits and vegetables contain
over 90% water. The cell walls are responsible for
the support structure and texture of the fruit or
vegetable, and they contain this large quantity of
water and other chemicals. This is the reason why freezing
fruits and vegetables mainly means freezing the water in the
cells walls.
In the freezing process, water expands and forms ice
crystals, which break the cell walls. Therefore, the texture
of IQF fruits and vegetables will be softer compared to the
texture of the fresh products. This textural change is mostly
noticeable in IQF fruits and vegetables since they are generally consumed raw.

The recommended freezing rate
The key to preventing and controlling the cell wall rupture
is to freeze fruits and vegetables as quickly as possible. In
the IQF freezing process, a large number of small ice crystals
are formed. IQF fruits and vegetables contain lots of small ice
crystals, which create less damage in the cell walls compared
to the few large ice crystals produced in a slower freezing
process.

The nutritional value of frozen fruits and vegetables
Freezing, when properly done in an IQF tunnel freezer, is a
method of food preservation which can save a large quantity
of nutrients. In order to maintain the best nutritional quality
for IQF fruits and vegetables, it is essential to follow all the
necessary procedures of the freezing process.

Dehydration
Dehydration is one of the most important aspects of the freezing process because it is less obvious and more difficult to
78

November/December 2016

quantify — and has a great economic impact. Dehydration
is the result of the imminent loss of water vapours that happens when products are exposed to air. In the case of IQF
fruits and vegetables, dehydration is significantly reduced
due to two factors:
• If the temperature of the products is rapidly reduced,
this lowers the evaporation rate (the rate at which water
is transferred from the product into the air).
• IQF fruits and vegetables benefit from the short period
of time in which the water is evaporating at a higher
rate. But in order to achieve a fast freezing, cold air is
not enough. Cold air must be evenly distributed over the
surface of the product with the help of an effective airflow, and this can be achieved in an IQF freezing tunnel.
The IQF designed by OctoFrost features high-performance
fans and perforated bedplates, which distinguish this tunnel
freezer from the traditional solutions. In the OctoFrost IQF a
unique airflow is created, which, combined with the movement
of the bedplates, is able to maintain an efficient separation of
the products and to protect even the most delicate products.
IQF fruits and vegetables benefit from optimal airflow and
pressure ratios during the freezing process, due to aerodynamics controlled and adjusted in separate freezing zones.
This allows for dehydration to be kept at a minimum for
IQF fruits and vegetables, which keep their natural appearance with a reduced level of fines or lumps. In addition,
snow formation is prevented for OctoFrost IQF fruits and
vegetables, which enables many hours of valuable uptime
between defrost.
OctoFrost
www.octofrost.com

www.foodprocessing.com.au

Food-grade urethane belts
Working closely with the Rydell Beltech team, Gates has developed a range of drive system solutions
for the Australian food processing industry.
Gates Mectrol food-grade urethane belts sit at the core of the range. Its stable base
belt construction and availability of multiple tooth configurations means that production
managers have a wide range of custom options to suit their requirements.
The design produces 43% less surface area that requires washdown when compared to traditional plastic modular
belts, according to the company,

BULK HANDLING, STORAGE & LOGISTICS

meaning that the belts are faster and
easier to clean.
All belts are appropriate for clean in
place (CIP) cleaning protocol, providing savings in water consumption and labour costs.
The PosiClean food-grade urethane belts reduce downtime, wastewater and
maintenance costs with CIP capabilities, as well as being resistant to elongation. According to the company, every foot of 24â&#x20AC;ł wide plastic modular belting
replaced with PosiClean results in more than 2000 L of water savings per year.
The CenterClean food-grade urethane belt is suitable for troughing due to
having a row of 75 mm-wide teeth in the centre of the belt. It is reinforced with
Kevlar belt tension members, which not only prevent elongation but also stabilise
the belt across its width.
Gates Australia Pty Ltd
www.gates.com/australia

separator to ensure no moisture passes to the inside of the electrical

The splice press is available in five different models ranging

enclosure. An optional thermostat control minimises compressed

in width from 600–2100 mm.

air use and keeps the enclosure at ±1ºC of the temperature set-

There are separate controllers for setting the temperature,

ting. A side-mount kit is available when space restrictions prevent

time and pressure generated by the built-in compressor.

mounting on the cabinet top.

The splicing operation itself takes place automatically. The

Available from Compressed Air Australia, coolers are avail-

temperature controller has a scrolling display which navigates

able with cooling capacities of 275 and 550 Btu/h and are UL

the user through the settings in clear text messages. With

Listed and CE compliant. There are no moving parts to wear out.

two quick-clamping bars it is easy to position and fasten the

Applications include cooling control panels used in food process-

material in the press.

ing, pharmaceuticals, foundries, chemical processing and other

Flexco (Aust) Pty Ltd

corrosive locations.

www.flexco.com.au

BULK HANDLING, STORAGE & LOGISTICS

with -7°C air while resisting

Compressed Air Australia Pty Ltd
www.caasafety.com.au

MANUFACTURED
TO YOUR
STANDARDS
To help reduce your risk and protect
your reputation, we became the first
compressor manufacturer with ISO
22000 certification.
All our Z air compressors are certified
Class 0 - 100% oil-free for your peace of
mind.
Call today 1800 023 469

Compressed Air | Vacuum | Blowers | Industrial Gas | Service

www.foodprocessing.com.au

November/December 2016

81

RFID device for transparent material flow
The RFU65x RFID from SICK is a measuring RFID device with integrated
passage and direction detection, which enables a consistently transparent
material flow. It detects tags at long range, recording the direction in which
objects are moving at the same time. The associated user data can be
sent directly to an ERP or MES system — reducing processing times and
increasing production efficiency.

BULK HANDLING, STORAGE & LOGISTICS

Conventional RFID devices record RFID tags over long distances depending on sender
power, aperture angle, tag properties and application environment. Until now, directions of movement could
only be derived by using additional, external antennas and intelligent algorithms. With the technology supported by the
RFU65x, both position and angle can be determined and direction of movement can be detected. Even tags which are
moving in opposite directions at the same time can be detected and their directions of movement recorded.
The operating range of the RFID covers an angle of ±45° with a typical sensing range of up to 5 m. RFID tags are
recorded below a certain measuring angle in relation to the zero point of the reader. Algorithms can be used to derive
instances of passage — including the direction of movement — from the various measuring points.
The product family provides system integrators with the ability to install additional application software directly within
variants of the RFU6xx. The user can develop and manage device-specific application software through the SICK development environment and transfer this to other devices.
SICK Pty Ltd
www.sick.com.au

Those who manage a farm, or a food manufacturing or processdisease, pests and other contaminants out of the property.
The vehicles that travel between farms and plants could be the
weak link in the biosecurity of a site. When officials trace the origins
of an outbreak of pests or diseases, the common denominator
transferring the pathogen between each site is frequently the trucks
and other vehicles that enter and leave the property.
Tecpro Australia offers cost-effective vehicle disinfection systems

With years of experience we can recommend the
best vibrator for your application.

that are easy to install at the entrance (and exit) of a plant or farm.
Designed and manufactured in Italy, the modular system can
be constructed to fit the largest trucks with just a screwdriver, a

Just ask for our client data request, fill in the
numbers and we’ll do the rest!

Trucks simply pass through the system as they enter or leave
perimeter of each truck — from top to bottom and along the sides.
The system is available as a modular kit containing the pump,
galvanised steel platforms and stainless steel enclosure to house
the pump and electrical panels. Customised kits can also be
designed by Tecpro to suit particular specifications.
Tecpro Australia

BRANCHES AND DISTRIBUTORS IN ALL STATES AND NEW ZEALAND

82

November/December 2016

www.tecpro.com.au

www.foodprocessing.com.au

Oil-free two-stage
screw compressors
Gardner Denver Industrials Group has
added a range of high-efficiency,
CompAir oil-free two-stage screw
compressors to its D-Series. With
the addition of 10 new models, the
D-Series now covers a wide flow
range from 8.9 to 51.8 m³/min. The

BULK HANDLING, STORAGE & LOGISTICS

latest models (from 160 to 315 kW),
which also utilise a CompAir designed
and manufactured two-stage airend, offer
oil-free and silicone-free air, in accordance
with ISO 8573-1 Class 0.
The D-Series delivers improved efficiencies and produces
12% more air compared to the previous range.
Electric IE3 and IE4 motors and other components all meet
and exceed stringent European standards and those from other
jurisdictions, providing quality and efficiency. All connections
within the modern design are on the same side of these compact compressors, allowing for simple installation with no specific
foundation requirements.
Designed and built for continuous use in demanding applications
with up to 45°C ambient temperatures, the D-Series features a
patented water regulation system around the airend and specialist,
hardened rotor coating to ensure long life. Low power consumption
is also delivered, while maintaining high air outputs with reliability
and performance efficiency.
CompAir (Australasia) Limited
www.compair.com.au

Headquartered in Atlanta, USA, Americold owns and
operates over 185 temperature-controlled warehouses in
the United States, Australia, New Zealand, China, Argentina
and Canada, offering warehousing, transportation and
logistics solutions to the food industry.
In Australia, Americold’s network of cold storage
warehouses connects food producers, processors,
distributors and retailers to the end consumer. With demand
increasing, the company’s management recognises the need
to constantly improve standards, practices and technology.
Americold’s picking systems have evolved significantly
over the years. In the past, the company’s cold and frozen
storage DC in Arndell Park, NSW relied on paper-based
picking systems. This was then upgraded to a label-pick
solution, which delivered higher levels of picking accuracy.
Now, the facility has implemented a fully automated
advanced voice picking system from Dematic.
The voice picking solution has transformed the Arndell
Park DC into a paperless facility, where operators no longer
need to look away from what they are doing or waste time
retrieving new pick slips. When an order is processed, the
operator will go to the location and confirm with the check
digit that they are at the right location by speaking into a
wireless headset. The voice system will then instruct the
operator to pick a certain number of crates or units and ask
the worker to confirm they picked the right amount. The
system will repeat this process until the order is finished.
“I’ve worked in logistics a long time and in the past have
used paper-based picking processes or an RF solution. When
I came to Americold I used voice picking for the first time,
and it’s dramatically improved my picking productivity
because it is automated and hands-free. The hands-free
aspect allows me to concentrate on the environment around
me and look at the locations I am picking from. Because the
system is fully automated and tells me the locations and
number of goods I have to pick, and confirms these, there

84

November/December 2016

is no possibility of human error,” said Dean, DC operator
for Americold.
The voice-directed picking solution also facilitates
a real-time, two-way data flow between workers on the
distribution floor and the WMS. This flow of information
makes it easy for managers to generate reports and to provide
comprehensive and accurate real-time insights.
Given the challenging operating environments of cold
storage DCs, the equipment and technology must function
for extended periods in colder temperatures, as well as
accommodating the needs of pickers themselves.
“As Americold operates in chilled environments, users
are frequently moving in and out of cold storage areas.
Carrying technology, having to take off gloves to key in
information, putting equipment down and picking up the
product becomes a real problem. Voice is a hands-free,
eyes-free solution where users don’t face these problems,”
said Brian Lang, director of Real Time Logistics for Dematic.
Voice technology has also enhanced the overall safety
of Americold’s Arndell Park DC, explains David Gardner,
operations manager for Americold, as the hands-free, eyesfree operational benefits of voice makes workers much more
aware of their environment and allows them to anticipate
the actions of others for increased safety in the warehouse.
Voice picking technology has also provided productivity
improvements. Order fulfilment accuracy has increased and
labour costs can be more effectively managed by enabling
appropriate staffing levels throughout the working day.
“Real-time data in the DC allows managers to manipulate
staffing levels to respond to customer volume fluctuations
throughout the day. It also helps us to better manage our
labour by ensuring we are putting staff to work in the areas
of the business where they are needed most,” said Gardner.
Dematic Pty Ltd
www.dematic.com.au

www.foodprocessing.com.au

Scissor lift actuators
Firestone Airstroke Air Springs are air-actuated scissor lifts that provide durable,
hygienic and safe lifting solutions for applications which require pneumatic
operation rather than hydraulic.
Scissor lift and tilt tables can be actuated by compact heavy-duty air bag
actuators which are connected to a plant’s standard 7 bar shop air system.
Such air bag (or air springs) scissor tables are used in a wide variety of
applications to improve worker ergonomics and enhance plant efficiencies.

BULK HANDLING, STORAGE & LOGISTICS

Air-actuated scissor lifts can be customised to fit specific material handling
application requirements, including conveyors and lift tables in production and packaging applications.
They are easy to wash down and have no oily surfaces to attract dirt.
The scissor lifts are available in capacities from a few dozen kilograms to more than 40 tons/unit. The largest triple
convoluted actuator is 940 mm in diameter and will collapse to 140 mm. The smallest is 58 mm in diameter, collapsing
to 31 mm in height.
The company’s even smaller Airomatic pneumatic actuators stand 11 mm high deflated for ultracompact installation in
light load applications, such as delicate conveying and food and beverage processing.
Both convoluted and rolling sleeve types of air spring operate in the same simple way: compressed air (and sometimes
liquids) is directed into the air springs, expanding their fabric-reinforced rubber bladders to expand in a linear fashion
from their compact collapsed state to become force-developing actuators.
The available stroke of an air spring is limited by the length of the side wall. This length is determined by stability
factors (length-to-diameter considerations). These design needs can frequently be met by specifying either single, double
or triple-convoluted air springs.
Air Springs Supply Pty Ltd
www.airsprings.com.au

one less thing
to worry about
Rising overheads, reduced budgets, OH&S compliance...
these days we all face a number of challenges. Wouldn’t it
be nice to have just one less thing to worry about?
Where absolutely clean compressed air is demanded, KAESER
presents a powerful range of dry-running two-stage rotary
screw compressors, that deliver high quality and 100% oil-free
compressed air to ‘Class 0’ ISO standards, whilst also impressing
with their low lifecycle costs. That’s one less
thing to worry about!
Discover your compressed air solution today,
phone 1800 640 611

www.kaeser.com.au

KAESER HP Ad_Oct 16.indd 1

22/08/2016 10:08:36 AM

www.foodprocessing.com.au

November/December 2016

85

Flowcrete flooring features in flour mill renovation

BULK HANDLING, STORAGE & LOGISTICS

When US$800 million food producer
Bakhresa Group renovated its ageing
flour mill in Durban, South Africa, it
specified a hardwearing epoxy floor.
Bakhresa knew that the floor
coating would need to maintain
a hygienic surface despite the
challenging working conditions that
are unavoidable within large-scale
food production facilities, including
heavy equipment, intense cleaning
regimes, corrosive by-products,
thermal shock and frequent foot
traffic.
To ensure the floor was up to
the task, a combination of highperformance resin solutions from
Flowcrete was chosen for the
revitalised flour mill.
The resilient, self-smoothing
epoxy flooring system Flowshield SL
was applied within the mill’s critical
production area. The ability of Flowshield SL to withstand high
mechanical and chemical stress made it the right fit for this part
of the site, as it will be able to maintain a seamless finish in the
face of Bakhresa’s busy daily workload.
The joint-free, impervious nature of the system leaves no
hard-to-clean gaps for bacteria, mould, mildew and fungi to get
trapped within. Instead, any dirt or grime can be quickly and
easily washed away by the site’s cleaning routine, minimising
the risk of contamination incidents.

The non-critical areas of the
site, such as the warehouse,
packaging and logistics spaces,
were coated with the epoxy
resin finish Flowshield SL 1000.
This system provides the same
hygienic and aesthetic properties
as the production room floor, but
it could be thinner in these areas
as it would not have to endure
such rigorous conditions.
In total, 11,000 m 2 of resin
materials were required to bring
the facility’s floor up to the desired
standard. Flowcrete supplied all
the systems in a custom ‘sand
yellow’ colour to meet the client’s
aesthetic requirements.
Bakhresa chose Flowcrete in
recognition of the resin specialist’s
long history of supplying food
and beverage producers, and its
ability to meet the tight deadline required.
Flowshield SL is suitable for businesses that want to limit
the time required to complete a flooring project, as it can be
quickly installed and its fast cure formulation avoids long
waiting periods where it is impossible to walk across the
site or send in follow-on trades.
Flowcrete Australia
www.flowcrete.com

Multifunctional blast
chiller
Coldline Living’s VISION commercial blast
chillers can perform multiple functions,
including blast chilling, shock freezing,
proving, thawing, storage and chocolate
crystallisation/holding.
With an adjustable temperature range
from -40 to 35°C, humidity from 40 to 95%
and ventilation intensity from 30 to 100%,
chefs can set the right type of cold for
each type of food.
Using only specific processes according to the nature and quantity of each product respects their original characteristics
and eliminates bacteria that determine the risk of food poisoning. The chiller is suitable for a wide array of functions, including
freezing fish, cooking frozen meat straight away, deep freezing cured meats, storing fresh pasta, ice-creams and deep freezing
seasonal fruit pieces, while avoiding cold burns or frost formation.
Euroquip Food Service Equipment
www.euroquip.com.au

86

November/December 2016

www.foodprocessing.com.au

The Truth About Compressed Air!
If you think compressed air is too expensive and noisy - read this. The facts will surprise you!

Compare these Blowoffs

Facts about Blowers

source), and a blower supplied air knife (using an electric motor as a power source). Each system

Energy conscious plants might think
a blower to be a better choice due to its
slightly lower electrical consumption
compared to a compressor. In reality,
a blower is an expensive capital
expenditure that requires frequent
downtime and costly maintenance of

Here are some important facts:

Filters must be replaced every one to
three months.
Belts must be replaced every three to
six months.

edges, we took sound level measurements in free air (no impinging surface).

Typical bearing replacement is at least
once a year at a cost near $1000.

Drilled Pipe

Blower Air Knife

and easy to make. For this test, we used (2)
drilled pipes, each with (25) 1/16" diameter
holes on 1/2" centers. As shown in the test
results below, the drilled pipe performed

option. As noted below, the purchase price
is high. Operating cost was considerably
nozzle, but was comparable to EXAIR’s

is overshadowed by its high energy use.

its two 3" (76mm) diameter hoses requires

level is excessive - both of which violate
OSHA requirements. Velocity across the
entire length was very inconsistent with
spikes of air and numerous dead spots.

the others. Noise level was high at 90 dBA.

•

Blower bearings wear out quickly
due to the high speeds (17-20,000

•

Poorly designed seals that allow

•

environments above 50°C decrease
the one year bearing life.
Many bearings can not be replaced
to send the assembly back to the
manufacturer.

with downtime were also negative factors.

Blowers take up a lot of space and often
produce sound levels that exceed OSHA
noise level exposure requirements. Air

Flat Air Nozzles

EXAIR Super Air Knife

As shown below, this inexpensive air nozzle
was the worst performer. It is available in
plastic, aluminium and stainless steel from

job of removing the moisture on one
pass due to the uniformity of the laminar
low. For this application, energy use was
slightly higher than the blower but can be

from many of the same problems as the
drilled pipe. Operating cost and noise
level are both high. Some manufacturers

is possible. Safe operation is not an issue
since the Super Air Knife can not be deadended. Maintenance costs are low since
there are no moving parts to wear out.

be blocked - an OSHA violation. Velocity
was inconsistent with spikes of air.

to control since mechanical adjustments
are required. To discuss an application,
contact:

The Super Air Knife is the low cost way to blowoff, dry, clean and cool.
Blowoff Comparison
Comp. Air
Type of blowoff

PSIG BAR

SCFM

SLPM

Horsepower
Sound
Purchase
Required Level dBA
Price

Annual
Electrical
Cost*

Approx. Annual
Maintenance Cost

First Year
Cost

$5,478

Drilled Pipes

60

4.1

174

4,924

35

91

$50

$4,508

$920

Flat Air Nozzles

60

4.1

257

7,273

51

102

$208

$6,569

$1,450

$8,227

Blower Air Knife

3

0.2

N/A

N/A

10

90

$5,500

$1,288

$1,500

$8,288

Super Air Knife

60

4.1

55

1,557

11

69

$1,188

$1,417

$300

$2,905

*Based on national average electricity cost of 8.3 cents per kWh. Annual cost reflects 40 hours per week, 52 weeks per year.

Compact rotary blowers
The BBC and FBC series of rotary blowers from Kaeser
are compact, quiet and energy efficient.
Suitable for the supply of low pressure compressed air
in applications such as conveying and water treatment,
the units are supplied complete with all sensors, controls
and a choice of star-delta starter or variable speed drive.
The systems are CE and EMC certified. Their quiet

BULK HANDLING, STORAGE & LOGISTICS

operation is thanks to effective broadband sound and
pulsation damping, which applies to both the machine
and the pipework.
Operational reliability and uptime is enhanced due to

Sanitary drum tipper with roller
conveyor

the inclusion of a blower block with Omega profile rotors,

Flexicon has released a TIP-TITE sanitary drum tipper with roller
conveyor.
Constructed of stainless steel and suitable for washdown, the
tipper is pneumatically powered and certified for use in areas with
hazardous conditions. It allows dust-free transfer of bulk materials from drums to downstream equipment and rapid sanitising
between changeovers.
A hydraulic cylinder raises and seats the drum against a discharge
cone, after which a second hydraulic cylinder tips the drum to an
angle of 45, 60 or 90 degrees with a motion-dampening feature.
At full rotation, the outlet of the discharge cone mates with a
gasketed receiving ring fitted to the lid of any receiving vessel,
creating a dust-tight seal and allowing controlled, dust-free discharge
through a pneumatically actuated butterfly valve into the vessel.
The hydraulic power unit enclosure with sight glass to check
gauges and valves is located on the frame exterior for accessibility during set-up, inspection and maintenance, and houses a
pneumatic motor to drive the unit.
It is equipped with a roller conveyor that can be fed by an
optional or existing infeed conveyor, allowing drums to roll into
place by gravity.
Other drum tippers are available constructed of carbon steel
with durable industrial finishes or with material contact surfaces
of stainless steel.
Flexicon Corporation (Aust) Pty Ltd
www.flexicon.com.au

while adaptive compression
reduces energy consumption
and long bearing life minimises
maintenance costs.
Components such as control
valves and exhaust silencers,
which would normally be installed external, are integrated.
In addition, the design allows all
service work to be carried out
from the front of the unit. With
the star-delta equipped models, this makes it possible to
install several blowers side by side.
All blowers come with an internal Sigma Control 2
controller to enable quick and easy blower mode selection, such as remote speed control or pressure control.
Performance parameters are monitored by sensors,
automatically generating warning or fault signals. Optional
communication via databus (multiple databus systems
can be connected) allows operational status readout and
enables the machine to be remotely controlled.
Efficient and energy saving, the rotary blower range covers air deliveries from 2 to 72 m³/min at up to 1000 mbar
gauge pressure and 500 mbar vacuum.
Kaeser Compressors Australia
www.kaeser.com.au

Belt centring station
ISO 2200
certified
oil-free air
compressors
Atlas Copcoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s oil-free Z compressor production facility in
Antwerp, Belgium has received
ISO 22000 certification to
products for the food and beverage industry.
With compressed air being a key piece in the manufacturing process of food and beverage products, producers
can have peace of mind knowing their compressor was
made in a clean and safe environment.

Derived from the ISO 9001 quality certification, ISO 22000
is aimed at any organisation in the food and beverage
industry that wishes to implement systems that consistently
provide safe food products. The standard demonstrates

www.atlascopco.com.au

better traction when moist.
Suitable for light to medium-duty applications and for reversible belts with belt widths up to 1200 mm, the station is quick
and easy to fit thanks to the simple design of brackets and
components. With the help of the PT Pro Belt Trainer, conveyor
system operators can also use this system on belts with worn
or damaged edges.
The centring station corrects belt misalignment on one or
both sides. No sensor rollers are required as the tapered rollers
initiate movement of the belt guiding system. The unit responds
immediately to misalignment and corrects it, while ensuring that
and reducing maintenance costs.

food safety management system in place.

Atlas Copco Compressors Australia

polyurethane-coated, which increases service life and gives it

the belt does not touch the structure, thus preventing damage

The company also offers transparency, with a documented

an organisationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ability to control food safety hazards.

The system features pivot and tilt movement. Pivoting affects
the direction while tilting increases the tension on the incorrectly
guided side. These two forces therefore move the belt quickly
back to the centre. The belt centring system is suitable for belt
speeds of up to 5 m/s and can be used in both damp and
dry environments.
Flexco (Aust) Pty Ltd
www.flexco.com.au

Zebra Technologies Corporation has released the Asia–Pacific results from its
latest Warehouse Vision Study. The global survey compares input from over 1000
IT and operations warehouse professionals from retail, manufacturing, logistics,
transportation and wholesale distribution sectors on expectations for 2015 through
to 2020.
The study shows that local enterprises are expected to increase the number
of warehouses as global online sales continue to grow. Surveyed warehouse
executives say they plan on equipping staff with new technologies to meet the
needs of increasing shipment volumes.
In Asia–Pacific, 74% of respondents have plans to outfit their warehouse
staff with technology, specifically to raise investment in the Internet of Things
(72%), barcode scanning technologies (70%), tablet computers (69%), big data/
data analytics (67%) and warehouse/truck loading automation (64%) in the next
five years.
Half of respondents say warehouse investments are mainly driven by the need
to reduce transportation costs, while 41% demand shorter delivery times and 38%
see the need to accommodate new supplier and trading partner locations. Other
factors include change to inventory policies (33%), talent/skill shortages (28%)
and omnichannel pressures (21%).
From 2016 until 2020, companies surveyed expressed expansion plans in
terms of total volume of items shipped (74%), automation of processes (69%),
annual inventory turns (64%), number of stock keeping units (SKUs) (57%) and
employees (56%).
Currently, 81% of respondents are using legacy warehouse management software
(WMS), and this number is projected to drop by half to 40% in 2020. By contrast,
full-featured WMS and real-time location systems (RTLS) will grow in usage by
an average of 29% in five years.
Executives expect to see growth in percentage of inbound items that will be
barcoded in the next five years, from 59% to 84%. In inventory management, 86%
of respondents said they will use mobile handheld computers and tablets with
real-time access to WMS, while 79% of them plan to use RFID-equipped solutions.
Only 24% of those polled expect to continue using pen and paper in 2020.
90

NOTICE:
All material published in this magazine is published in good faith and every care
is taken to accurately relay information provided to us. Readers are advised by the
publishers to ensure that all necessary safety devices and precautions are installed and
safe working procedures adopted before the use of any equipment found or purchased
through the information we provide. Further, all performance criteria was provided
by the representative company concerned and any dispute should be referred to them.
Information indicating that products are made in Australia or New Zealand is supplied
by the source company. Westwick-Farrow Pty Ltd does not quantify the amount of
local content or the accuracy of the statement made by the source.

READY-MADE SOLUTIONS
To Your Specific Bulk Bag Handling Problem

CONDITION

FILL

UNLOAD

Fill one bulk bag per week
or 20 per hour with REAR-POST,
TWIN-CENTREPOST™, and
SWING-DOWN® Bulk Bag Fillers

Opposing hydraulic rams drive contoured
conditioning plates to crush and loosen
solidified bulk material safely and easily.
Bulk bags can be raised, lowered and
rotated to allow complete conditioning of
the entire bag through the use of automated
turntables and scissor lifts, or electric hoist
and trolley assemblies. Offered as standalone units for loading with forklift or electric
hoist and trolley, or integrated with bulk bag
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